


To Deal with a Devil

by Devil_Lukos



Category: Original Work
Genre: Devils, Minor Character Death, Other, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-02-27 16:37:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13252263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devil_Lukos/pseuds/Devil_Lukos
Summary: For Lukos collecting souls is easy, but even he knows some are harder to collect than others.





	1. The Hardest Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Lukos collecting souls is easy, but even he knows some are harder to collect than others.

        Sunsets, one of the many things I’ve grown to feel these humans take for granted.

        As I looked up to the sky, set ablaze with vibrant colors, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. It was beautiful in ways my mind failed to describe. This was just one of the many things I had grown to appreciate since I took up the job of a debt collector topside. 

        Sunsets and sunrises, the feeling of the sun on my skin, and the fresh air filling my lungs; just to name a few of the many things I had grown to appreciate. Sadly though, the list of things I had grown to hate was about as long. Guess it just comes with the job though…

        And with the fact that I’m a devil.

        As the darkness began to consume the light I held up my hand before me, the silver rings on my fingers gleaming with an unnatural shine thanks to the dying light from the setting sun. Personal reminders of three of the worst things I had done just to survive. With the way they burned my red skin they were also my own personal punishment.

        There was really no point in mourning those I had killed. It had happened nearly a decade ago. So when the night sky consumed the sun I pushed the thoughts from my mind. I had a job to do tonight, a few debts needed to be taken care of and some souls to collect. 

        With that in mind, I pushed myself from my perch that kept me above the city. The air whipped through my hair as I fell. Falling was such an odd feeling, hard to describe in fact, but it was somewhat relaxing. Even as the ground grew closer my mind stayed clear.

        Must have been ten stories up this time. As I was about to hit the ground I felt my body explode into a cloud of smoke, Not even a second later I was standing a couple of feet from where I would have landed. Teleportation was a lovely devil’s trick, left the area smelling a sulfur, but still useful.

        With that bit of fun, I began my job.

        I've never kept myself hidden really. I'm always walking around in the open, tail and all that comes with being a devil. Even though I've been in this town for a century there are always those that just think I'm some guy in a costume or just a radical Satanist of some form. It’s rather amusing. In most cases no one bothers me when I go out to collect souls or form new contracts. 

        That's how it went tonight as I walked through the city. A few of the local graffiti artists would ask me what's up and a few cops would slow down to make sure I wasn't up to anything. Could they stop me even if I was up to anything illegal though? I don't think so.

        When I got to the familiar little house I hesitated before walking up to the door. This one was going to be difficult. I could feel it in my gut, But it had to be done like all the rest. After gathering my courage I knocked.

        "I'm coming, just give me a moment." The voice made a lump form in my throat. Why did I have to do this?

        The door opened up to reveal a small, elderly woman. She looked up at me from over her glasses before giving a soft smile. Time showed on her face, every wrinkle a different story from her lifetime. I've heard so many of them in the past. Never got old.

        "I was wondering if you had somehow forgotten, deary," she said with such kindness it struck me like an arrow. "Now come in, you're letting the cold in and these old bones can't handle that. Wipe your feet off as well, I know how you like to walk around without shoes on. Devil or not, you're not going to track dirt into my house. No sir." 

        I couldn't help myself, I was smiling like a fool as I wiped my feet on her welcome mat. To avoid any further remarks from her I made sure to close the door behind me after entering. It was the polite thing to do, but even so I could still hear a familiar voice nagging at me and asking if I was raised in a barn. A sweet smell fragrance came to my nose to break me from my thoughts.

        “Got a pot of tea on the stove?” 

        “Sure do, I’ve been saving this batch for a very special occasion. I think tonight counts.” The lady gave a soft laugh as she shuffled along. “Go ahead and make yourself at home.” 

        “Don’t have to tell me twice;” I say as I teleport to her couch.

        “Boy, why do you have to do that?” She asked as she shuffled into the other room. “Now the house is going to smell like someone broke wind after something died up their behind.”

        I stifled a laugh as the sound of chinaware clinking about came from the opposite room.

        This was nice, much more relaxing than falling if I do say so myself. As I was ready to lose myself to my thoughts I felt something brush against my leg, followed by a soft meow.

        Looking up at me was a little orange kitten. Before I could even say anything a sharp pain shot up from my tail. Sitting beside me, playing with the end of my tail, was a bigger black cat. No matter how I moved my tail it jumped at it, excited as if it was a new toy. 

        “I see you met my babies.” I looked to Gloria as she came into the room, two saucers in her hands with a little cup on each. 

        “Cute little guys,” I replied, my attention going back to the cats. “When did you get them?” 

        She sat across from me after setting a cup before me. It was pastel pink with a floral pattern. Not my first choice of something to drink from, but it was the same one I always drank from whenever I visited. The chip of the brim told me so. 

        “Oh, about a month or so ago. Found them outside eating my trash. Couldn’t have that now could we?” 

        The felines both meowed as if agreeing.

        “You’ve always had such a kind heart. A very rare thing too now a days.”

        “So do you, deary.” 

        I didn’t hold back my laugh. “ Gloria, if anyone heard you say that to a devil they would call you crazy!” 

        She took a sip from her cup before casting a smile my way, “Then call me crazy.” 

        “Bat shit.” 

        “Watch your language, mister. You’re in my house.” I held up my hands in mock surrender. “Besides, you’ve made sure to check on me ever since we first made the deal. What year was it again?” 

        “June 13, 1957,” I answered. All the dates I had made deals on were burned into my mind. Even how many years before I had to collect payment for the deals.

        “I can never forget that summer.” Gloria seemed to stare off into space as she tried pulling memories back. “Susan was only two when she got sick. The doctors didn’t know what to do and me and Harold were freaking out. I prayed to God to give me a miracle, to cure my baby girl. I believe I prayed nearly every minute of every day, but no miracle happened. Nothing happened until…”

        A sigh escaped my lips as her sentence faded off. “Until you offered up your soul to Lucifer, practically threw it at him. Hell, you thought I was him when I showed up. Sixty years was what I gave you before your soul was to be collected. Sixty years to live your life. Was it worth it?” 

        “I would do it all again without hesitation.”

        “Even if you knew then what you know now? If you knew what Susan was going to do?”

        There was a pause and ours eyes met. “Without a doubt in my mind. What Susan did doesn’t change the fact that as her mother I loved her unconditionally.” 

        Fury took over as I jumped to my feet, the cats running to hide. “After she stabbed you in the back, took everything you had and dragged your name through the mud?!” My anger never really controlled me like this before. It was scary. “If it wasn’t for her Harold wouldn’t have worked himself to death in those factories! He would have probably still been here today!”

        Had I gone too far? My anger put words in my mouth that should have remained in my head. Now I watched as this woman before me set down her tea so that she could wipe away the tears that had begun to form. There was a silence that began to weigh on my shoulders, pushing me back into my seat.

        "I'm sorry," I couldn't look at her, "I had no right bringing him up."

        Gloria looked back at me with that kind smile. She could stop a war with that smile if she tried. "Lukos, this is why I say you are so kind. You've been around all these years, always watching me and keeping me company. You try to be so mindful of what you say as well. I don't think any normal devil would do that."

        "I may be a devil, but that doesn't mean I like seeing everyone suffer, just those that deserve it."

        "Is that why you always visited bringing food and the such?" I could feel those eyes piercing through my very being. "Cause you didn't like to see us suffer?"

        "Nail on the head, Gloria." I finally looked up at her, trying to give a snarky smile to lighten the mood. "Harold shit me with the shotgun the first time I visited. Always telling about how no devil was gonna take his beautiful wife away from him."

        I watched those wrinkled cheeks turn red as she smiled more. "Took many years for him to warm up to you, even treated you as blood after our own had turned on us."

        "He was a very good man. Even at his funeral I beat myself up, wishing I had been able to help more." I was still beating myself up over that. What kind of devil does that?

        "You helped as much as you could, Lukos." Did I though? I could have not taken the deal and everything would have probably been better. "I know it was you who covered all the expenses of the funeral. You went out of your way more often than not to help us. To help me." 

        "I tried..."

        Another deafening silence took over. I sipped on my tea as a clock ticked in the background. It was almost time. She didn't deserve this.

        "Lukos," her voice startled me, "will I suffer in Hell?"

        I scoffed before shaking my head. "Not at all. People like you, people who make these deals for pure reasons, they go to this special place that's like a field of endless dreams. You'll be happy there for sure."

        She looked down at her cup. Was she crying again? "How can I be happy in a place without my dear Harold?" Her voice was cracking. "I'm sure he is up in Heaven cursing the day I made that deal." 

        I burst into laughter. It scared her, wife eyes on me with a look of bewilderment. "Oh do I have a story for you! Harold was a stubborn ox even in death. He refused to go anywhere you wouldn't be able to go. He punched Michael square in the jaw when he tried to force him through those gates. Your husband assaulted the leader of God's armies because they would deny you. Now that's love."

        "If he isn't in Heaven then where is he?" 

        I leaned forward with a smile. "Lucifer struck a deal with God. He would take Harold's soul and place it in the place you are going to go. Told him he could wait there for you for all eternity if he so desired. Lucifer may have been the first to fall, but he was the most beautiful angel at one point and his compassion shows that still."

        Gloria wiped her cheeks as she began to laugh softly. "That stubborn fool. Cursed the deal I made, but he goes and makes a deal with Lucifer himself."

        "He's there waiting for you, Gloria." I paused as I decided my next words. "Are you ready to be reunited with him?"

        She was scared, I know it. I could feel it, but her smile showed her bravery. "I've been ready to be with him again since he passed, but first there is something I just do. Come with me darling."

        She she stood so did I and I followed her without question. If she had some final thing to take care of before leaving the mortal world I would not stop her. We went into her bedroom and as she rummaged through her belongings I loomed in the doorway. The two cats were circling my legs, rubbing against me. They were an adorable pair. 

        I had been so entertained by the two cats at my feet I hadn't noticed Gloria coming over till she was right in front of me. Her hand behind her back. "I need you to close your eyes."

        This woman had no fear at all, seemed she never did in fact. Telling a devil what to do. Wonder how a different collector would have acted towards her. Nonetheless I closed my eyes. "Man, you sure are bossy tonight. I hope you don't have a gun, I would much rather not spend the night healing up." 

        I heard a soft laugh come from her as she fumbled with something she was trying to wrap around my wrist. It took her a few moments to finish what she was doing. "It buy me some time, that's for sure. Now open your eyes."

        She was smiling like she had just laid eyes on her crush for the first time, tears were going down her cheeks. When I looked to my wrist a silver bracelet had a nice contrast against my red skin. It was a charm bracelet with little cat heads, bells, and other little pieces I didn't recognize off the bat. "Alright, I'll bite. What's this for?"

        “It’s my most painful memory,” she explained, “Harold got this charm bracelet special made just for me on our 42nd anniversary back in 95.”

         “Same year he died.” She gave a solemn nod. “So why are you giving it to me?” 

        She wiped away her tears before continuing “Lukos, you know I’ve got no children or even grandchildren. The thought of this going to some random pawn shop or just disappearing entirely breaks my heart.”

        “Surely you have some friends you could give it to,” I insisted.

        “They all died long ago, dear,” she answered. “ You’re the only friend I have left and here you are, in my final moments.”

        I was at a loss for words. No matter how hard I tried my brain couldn’t wrap around what was happening. So I just stood there, silently mouthing words that made no sense together. 

        “Dear if you stand there with your mouth open any longer you’re going to catch flies.” I closed my mouth, but my thoughts still raced. “Now I have a final request for you.”

        “Anything for you, just name it.”

        “Well, it’s more of a demand than a request,” She corrected herself. “I’m not giving you a choice.”

        “Damn, woman!” I exclaimed before giving a toothy grin. “No one has ever bossed me around like you do, not even Lucifer himself. Shit… Well, since I have no choice lay it on me.” 

        “When I pass, Princess and Mr. Fluff are going to need a home.” For someone knocking on death’s door, her voice was stern. “So you’re going to take them in.”

        “Fuck Gloria, if anyone else had made that kind of demand I would have laughed in their face, but for you I’ll do it.”

        “If you laughed at me I would have to smack you around until you were a new shade of red!” 

        We both shared a laugh. It was a great feeling during these dark moments, but the never lasted long enough. Laughter faded into another crushing silence. Neither of us wanted to talk about what was about to happen. What had to happen.

        “Should I lay down for this?” I was glad she broke the silence.

        “Yea…” I didn’t want to do this. “Make yourself comfortable.”

        I watched in silence as she moved to her bed, getting comfortable as if about to go to sleep. Well, technically she was, just without the promise of ever waking up again. This wait was just making things worse. Every second that passed began to eat at me.

        After I assumed she was comfortable I walked up to her. Whenever the time is up on a person who sold their soul for a deal it seemed like their soul was ready to leave their body, acting like a beacon for any that could see it. To those who could see it, either the holy or unholy such as myself, it was like the person was blurred around the edges by a dim light. From there it could be pulled from the body peacefully or the person could be killed to send the soul to its final destination.

        “How do I look?” She asked me in a nervous tone.

        “Why does it matter, you old bat?” I retorted. “You’re about to die.”

        “I want to look good for Harold when I see him again.”

        “You’re crazy, Gloria, but trust me on this. You look beautiful, more so than Lucifer himself. Harold won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”

        “Him not being able to keep his hands off me kind of got us in this situation.” She gave a soft laugh. Only a minute left. “Is it going to hurt?”

        I shook my head. “I could never do anything that would hurt you.”

        “You’re such a sweet boy. Please never change.”

        “I swear I won’t.”

        I took a hold of her hand and our eyes locked one more time. For the final time. “Goodbye Lukos, I hope to see you again one day.”

        I couldn’t talk, the words were stuck in my throat. Her time was up and I had to do my job. So I gripped her hand tightly as I took hold of her soul with the other. As it came out some of her memories assaulted my mind.

**_How many times had I prayed in the last hour? Had God left me in my time of need? Surely not, for I have been faithful all my life! I must not doubt my Lord, even in these trying times._ **

**_When the doctor stepped out of the room hope spring up inside of me, only to be cut down by his grim expression. "I'm sorry ma'am, but she will be lucky to survive the next couple of hours."_ **

**_I couldn't voice my pain, but Harold would not remain silent. "There has to be more you can do for her!" He grabbed the doctor and forced him back into that room. "You get back in there and find something that will help her or so help me God!"_ **

**_The room door shut behind them, but I could still hear Harold yelling. His temper was as horrible as ever. With every second that ticked by I could feel my faith slipping away. I needed to try something, anything that could save my baby girl. I had heard in hushed whispers about people making deals with the devil in times of need. Desperate times called for desperate measures, right?_ **

**_"Please... Lucifer..." I couldn't believe I was doing this, but I clasped my hands together and held my eyes right as I whispered that foul name. Swallowing hard, I continued. "Please hear me because I don't know who else to call... My baby is dying and... And I refuse to let that happen... I will do whatever it takes to save her life, just name it..."_ **

**_"Did the holy pigeons turn a blind eye to you?"_ **  

**_The voice was calm and came from nowhere. My gaze shot up to fall upon a male with red skin, standing naked like a newborn before me. His eyes seemed to pierce my very soul, two hot embers that could not be ignored. Just like a lot of the stories two horns rose from his head and a long tail swayed lazily behind him as he leaned on the wall. What had I done? No, what had I called?_ **  

**_"Cat got your tongue?" He seemed like he was irritated by this whole situation. "You called me So I'm guessing nobody upstairs was listening. What kind of deal do you want to strike?"_ **

**_"Are you..." The name was like a stone caught in my throat. "Lucifer...?"_ **

**_He bit at his lip before rolling his eyes. "Sure, let's go with that," he replied, "Now what do you want?"_ **

**_I could still hear Harold arguing with the doctor. My baby was slowly slipping away. There was no time to lose. I dropped down before this fiend, looking up at him as I began to plead. "Please Lucifer, surely you have the power to save my daughter's life. She is dying and nothing the doctors do is helping. Please save her, I'll do anything to save her life."_ **

**_"Simple enough," he gave a snap of his fingers and a roll of parchment unfurled in front of me with all kinds of legal text. The devil then went to hand me a white feather quill with a devious smirk on his lips. "Sign here and she will live. We will discuss the terms of your payment afterwards."_ **  

**_I did not hesitate to sign. No price was too great if it meant saving my daughter's life. God please forgive me what I have done and have mercy on my soul._ **  

        Sixty years was not enough now as I was here in this moment. I wish I could have given her more. If only I had given her more or turned my back on the deal. 

**_It was all over the news already. Susan had killed a man before robbing us at gunpoint. She had fallen into a bad crowd with a no good boyfriend that kept her doped up on whatever drugs possible. I could only hope God would have mercy on her soul._ **

**_I heard the gunshot ring out before I heard Harold shouting. "You unholy beast, get the fuck out of here and away from my wife! She's gone through enough grief as of late, so get going before I fire a slug right up your ass, boy!"_ **

**_I came rushing from the living room out to the front yard. Harold stood with his shotgun still aimed at the fiend standing in our yard. I could make out from the half of its face that still remained that it was same fiend I had made the deal with two decades ago. Though he had a chunk of his head missing he still looked at me with a somewhat grim smirk. It was a ghastly sight that would haunt me for my years to come._ **  

**_"Hey Gloria, looks like the years haven't done you justice." He spoke to me as if I was a friend, but then his smiles faded. " I heard what happened with Susan, was wondering if I could help in any way. Least I can do since the result of our deal kinda went sour.”_ **

**_This beast actually seemed kind. He even remembered my name and my daughter’s as well. What kind of devil was he?_ **

        No matter how she looked at me, I couldn’t truly be the kind being she saw. There was no way, not when I was here pulling her soul from her body.

**_The day was gloomy, perfect for a funeral. The fall leaves were a nice contrast against the gray sky. Here stood countless people, all dressed in black as they looked upon the open grave and the casket before them. The tears were hot on my face as I listened to the eulogy the Father Clain gave in respect towards Harold._ **

**_Nobody ever wanted to outlive their spouse. It was a horrible feeling. I just wished he would get up from that casket and everything would be okay. Maybe this could just be a bad dream and I would just wake up. Both of those were just foolish desires that could never be._ **

**_As I looked around at all the solemn faces of those who had attended I saw him off in the distance. He was perched up in a tree with the autumn leaves acting almost like a camouflage for him. For so long I had been dealing with Lukos, so no matter what he tried he couldn’t hide from me and even as he sat up in that tree I could see the shimmer of tears rolling down his red cheeks. Even a devil may cry every now and again, there was no exception when sorrow hit._ **  

        It hurt me more than the very fires of Hell. I could still feel the pain in my chest from the day Harold passed. Now this pain joined it and I wished I was back in those burning pits. That would be a vacation compared to this.

        When I pulled her soul from her body and sent it along its way her hand went limp in mine. She was gone. “Goodbye Gloria…”

        The silence was back. I didn’t like this silence. It was heavy with pain. I had to choke back my own tears as I let go of her hand. She looked so at peace as she laid there. I’m glad I had to fulfill her finally demand, for I don’t know how much longer I could have looked at her like this before breaking down.

        It didn’t take long to gather up the cats and everything I would need for them. The pair was rather well behaved. I didn’t want to risk hurting them by teleporting so I decided to take Gloria’s car. I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded.

        So as I sat in the driveway now I knew I had one final thing to do. With my cellphone to my ear I could feel my emotions bubbling to the surface. This is what sorrow was like. I don’t know how humans could handle it.

        “911, what’s your emergency?”

        “I’d like to report a…” The words caught in my throat. I could feel the tears welling up as my vision began to blur. “My…” I had to take a deep breath. “My grandmother had a heart attack… I think she is dead…”

        The pain had been too much. I didn’t want to do anything after I gave them address and hung up, but I knew I couldn't’ be here when the paramedics showed up. How do you explain a crying devil at a dead woman’s house? Besides, I had one more job to do before the night was over.

        It didn’t take me long to get the cats set up at my loft apartment. I only hoped they would be okay without me there. If it hadn’t been for their collars it would have been a while before I determined who was who. The black cat was Princess which left the orange one as Mr. Fluff. The absolute best names for a devil’s pets.

        My next job took me after two souls to collect, both of which I was more than happy to. Surely it would help me relieve some of my pain. The two people in particular were easy to find, their routines practically on repeat. It was Tuesday so they were having their normal poker night. Any other time I would have joined in to earn some quick cash but tonight it was all business.

        Getting into their little place of business was a cakewalk. I teleported in and just watched the group of guys play their cards. They had no idea. Guess one of them had had Taco Bell earlier and was letting his gas out freely. That’s the only reason I could think of for them not saying anything about the room smelling like ass.

        I watched and listened carefully. As the money piled up I kept count. After it hit well over half a million I made myself known.

        “God damn am I glad you two are slaves to your daily routines!” I exclaimed as I walked out of my dark corner. “Saves me the trouble of having to find you both.”

        “Lukos, long time no see,” The man I knew as William Thomas spoke out. “You missed out on a lot of money so far, but we can deal you in next hand.”

        “We even saved you a seat,” this time it was the man I knew as Nathan Carter that spoke. “Come sit next to me.”

        It was a tempting offer to swindle all eight of the men out of their money. No matter how hard they tried they could never beat me. If it weren’t for their gambling addiction I probably wouldn’t even have two pennies to rub together.

        “I’d love to join, but sadly…” I let my sentence trail off as I turned a chair around, resting my arms on the back after I plopped down into it. “I’m here for business only, not pleasure. Don’t you boys know what today is?”

        The pair exchanged confused looks. “It’s Tuesday right?” It was Nathan that spoke up. He wasn’t that bright, never had been.

        I sighed before scratching the back of my head. “It’s Tuesday, June 13th of the most heinous year 2017. So you know what that means right?” 

        “No,” they answered in unison, fear creeping up in their voices. It was amusing.

        “Twenty years ago you both sold your souls,” I reminded them. “Nathan, you sold yours for money to pay off your debts to those loan sharks. William, you sold your for the chance to overthrow those same sharks who were ready to rip you to pieces. I hope I’ve refreshed your memories.”

        They were scared, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. “Y-yea, but Lukos you’re outnumbered here. Come on man, just let us keep our souls so our guys here don’t have to fuck you up…” William could barely ever act brave. Pitiful in all honesty.

        “Yea! Leave now or we will send you back to Hell!” 

        Empty threats soaked in fear. Did they really think I would be as easy to scare as some poor bastard that owed them money? Sometimes people never learned.

        “You both know I can’t do that.”

        “Then it looks like you’re going  to die tonight, freak.” Seemed the fear had sent adrenaline pumping through William’s veins. Is that where the bravery came from?

        He snapped his fingers and the wall of muscle that had been sitting next to me sprang up like a spring. As fast as he was though he was no match for my tail. It snaked around his neck in a blink of an eye. There was a loud snap, followed by the satisfying sound of the man’s lifeless body falling to the floor. 

        “I do hope the rest of you are smart enough not to try anything.” They were scared for sure now. “Though your souls are not on my list I will gladly send them to wherever they are destined should you try to fuck with me. Now if you all would still like to obey the two sorry fucks that are your bosses then feel free to do so. I will warn you though, I am not in the best of fucking moods and need to blow off some steam. So the choice is yours, leave of get skull fucked.” 

        I didn’t need to provide further reasons to convince the remaining men to leave. They practically fought each other to get out of the room. All that was left was me, William, and Nathan. They both looked to be ready to shit themselves. The light was starting to form around them, blurring their figures.

        “You both have about five minutes before I rip your souls out. So how about we make a bet?” I outstretched my hand and in a flash of fire two dice sat in my palm. They were my special dice, carved from demon’s bone with the dots inked in the same demon’s glowing blood. “You’ll both get a chance, so how’s that sound?”

        “S-sure thing man, I’ll play…”Nathan stammered.

        “Anything you say, Lukos sir,” William chimed in. So quick to try ass kissing. He was so pathetic.

        “Good, the rules are simple.” I forced the dice into William’s hand first. “Roll anywhere from a two to a six and your soul is mine. Seven to twelve and I’ll let you leave. Simple right? Now roll.”

        William hesitated, but after taking a deep breath he rolled the dice. They tumbled across the table to me and when they stopped I had two glowing dots staring up at me. The color washed out of William’s face as he looked to me.

        “Come on Lukos, we can talk this out right?” He pleaded with me, dropping down to his knees beside me.

        “Oh I’m sorry Willy boy, but you rolled snake eyes.” I got to my feet before him and took his head into my hands. “It’s nothing personal, but the rules are the rules. 

        He let out a final whimper before I drove my thumbs into his eyes. His screams were beautiful. He flailed, grasping at my arms as I dug my nails in deep. With one final movement I snapped his neck to the side, relishing in the sweet sound of his neck breaking, before tossing him down to the ground at my feet. I watched as his soul left his body, being dragged down into Hell where it belonged.

        My eyes fell on Nathan and he seemed ready to run for the door. I wiped the blood from my hands onto William’s shirt before pushing the dice across the table towards Nathan. “Roll.”

        He was quicker than William and those dice went bouncing across the table. When they finally stopped it seemed everything went still. A pair of fives was looking up at me. He had gotten lucky.

        “I won…?” He seemed so unsure. “I can leave?”

        With a wave of my hand the door to the room opened and I sat back down in my chair. I didn’t say a single word, I only watched him. My curiosity was hungry to see what he would do. He ran for the open door. I can only imagine how evil my grin was at that moment. Just as he got to the door it slammed shut and Nathan ran into the sturdy, wooden frame hard before crumpling to the floor.

        “But I won!” He shouted out as he got to his feet, grasping at the handle and trying to get the door open. “We had a deal, Lukos!”

        I got to my feet to slowly walk over to him. I was enjoying this moment, watching him panic as death was breathing down his neck. “Should have gotten it in writing, Nathan. Makes a deal actually mean something. Just like how I got our deal in writing.”

        When I got behind him he turned to me, pressing his back to the door. The look of pure terror washed away so much of my stress. “I fucked up…”

        “Royally.”

        I rammed my hand into his chest, shattering bone and nearly turning soft organs into liquid. I watched the blood flow freely down his body and from his mouth. I watched as his life faded from his eyes and the blur around him disappeared. It felt so good. When I pulled my hand from his chest he slid down the door slowly, his lifeless eyes never leaving my face.

        With their souls collected my night was finished. Unlike Gloria I was going to leave these fools here to rot. They did nothing to earn my respect or even my pitty. Pathetic worms crawling through the dirt that preyed on other, lesser worms. The pits of Hell is all they deserved. Their blood didn’t even have a reason to stain my skin, so I was more than glad to use the cleaner parts of Nathan’s clothes to wipe the blood from my hand.

        From there I collected the money that had been left behind. It would keep me afloat for some time. Probably another two years, maybe longer depending on how my other deals went in the future. With everything done I went home, to my two new, meowing roommates. They were an adorable pair, but all they did was remind me of Gloria even more. All that pain began to wash back over me.

        “My new sweethearts, y’all are going to be the death of my liver. I can already feel it,” I told them as I stripped off my clothes, tossing them to land wherever, and headed into the kitchen. “Though as your new father I’m going to make sure y’all are treated like royalty.”

        I filled their bowls up next to the fridge before pulling out a bottle of Fireball Whiskey from the freezer. Hopefully good old alcohol would make the pain go away. I hoped it would take all the emotions away as I pulled the top off and gave the bottle a kiss like it was dying. As the liquid hit my stomach it filled me with warmth. I must have polished off a quarter of the bottle before I plopped down onto my couch. I wanted all the pain and emotions to go away, at least for the moment.

        So I closed my eyes and it all faded to darkness, the cold bottle in my hand my only comfort.


	2. The Price of a Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a deal can come back to haunt you, Lukos thought he had avoided that possibility, but some loose ends were missed.

        I was woken up by a killer hangover shooting pain through my body. It felt like someone was using my head like a fucking drum. Couldn’t blame anyone but myself for this one. My dumb ass had decided to turn the bottle up on an empty stomach. In the end the pain i felt deep in my heart was still there.

        Bang! Bang! Bang!

        Why did hangovers have to suck so much? The banging continued, rattling my thoughts as my body tried to focus on what to do. As my eyes opened up, they only took in blurry outlines of everything around me. I could barely make out the cats before me, both of them sitting on the table. It looked like they were both looking towards the door. What were they looking at?

        Bang! Bang! Bang!

        My head was practically ringing as the sound grew louder. I thought the banging had been in my head, but it turned out to be coming from my door. Why were they banging on my door? Though the better question was WHO was banging on my door? My landlord wasn’t dumb enough to bug me like this and I didn’t have any friends.

        Not anymore at least.

        It took a great amount of effort to get to my feet. Even then I was still a little fucked up from all I had drank last night, so I stumbled over to the door. This had better be important or I might have to end somebody. When I slid the door open I had to shield my eyes, the lights from the hallway were blinding and not helping my head at all!

        “Why are you naked?” It was a chick’s voice. I hadn’t called for a hooker in my sleep again had I?

        “Cause this is my place,” I snapped, “so unless you're here to find Heaven at the end of my pitchfork then you better get the Hell out of here if it isn’t important.”

        She didn't seem to want to talk now. My eyes were starting to adjust to the light a little so some things began to come into focus. This female before me had herself covered with a black hoodie and some tattered jeans. With her head held low I couldn't really make out her face. Was she trying to stay anonymous? Needless to say, if she was a street worker then she wasn't dressed the part at all. Then again, I've heard of guys into the whole mysterious thing so maybe that would have a hand in her outfit if she was a hooker. Nonetheless, a draft was starting to roll in from the hall.

        "This conversation seems dead and my nuts are getting cold," I scratched my chin as I looked at her, wondering what she was thinking, "so... Bye."

        As I went to slide the door shut a hand shot out from the girl's hoodie, stopping me. Now had anyone else done this I would have slammed the door so hard some fingers might fall off, but from looking at her hand it was like someone else had already done that. The bottom part of her hand had some nasty scars with her pinky and ring finger missing. This girl had a story, but it didn't explain why she was here.

        "I'm here to make a deal." She spoke so softly I barely heard her.

        I let out a groan as I slid the door back open. Does a devil ever get a day off? "I hate it, but you're speaking my language now. Get in here."

        She didn't wait for another invite before slipping inside. I shut the door behind her before walking over to a pair of faded jeans I had strung over my desk chair. If I was going to make a deal I might as well put some pants on cause there was no telling where this would take me or have me do.

        After I zipped my pants up I rolled a desk chair in her direction before crashing back on to the couch, taking the whiskey back up in my hand. "Sit."

        Now she was hesitating, but She did eventually sit. She looked around before looking back at me, at least I guess she was. Hard to tell with the hood. "Isn't it a little early to be drinking?"

        I scoffed at her question. "Ain't ever too fucking early." The bottle found its way to my lips for a big gulp of the harsh liquid. "Besides, I had a rough night. So who the fuck are you to judge me? In fact, who the fuck are you?"

        "My name is Devi Teufel," she replied. The last name sounded familiar, but my brain was drawing blanks as to why. "I had heard rumors a few cities over about a devil being here in Anima. So I jumped on the bus to come make a deal."

        "You traveled to make a deal with a devil?" I took another swig from the bottle before setting it on the table. "Well hate to disappoint you but that ain't how it works."

        "What do you mean that isn't how this works?" She was angry now, had I said something to upset her? "I will give up my soul for a deal. Hell, I'll give you my body if that's what it will take!"

        That caught me by surprise. Had to keep my cool, at least a little. "Tempting, but I ain't gonna take your body for a deal. Though if after all this is said and done we can put that offer back on the table." I stood up from the couch, stretching out my arms and tail as I tried to pick out my next words wisely. "The thing is, if you really wanted to make a deal you wouldn't have to travel. A devil would have just poofed wherever you were at the moment you had the greatest desire for something."

        To cement the point of that I teleported behind her, my hands gripping her shoulders. Seemed this startled her and the cats. "W-What are you saying...?"

        I walked away from her, keeping my back to her as I began to pace a little. "I'm saying whatever it is you want, you must not really desire it that bad. So go back home, I'm not making a deal with you. Your soul is worthless to me."

        Whenever a person had such a great desire that they would feel their soul was a fair form of payment they became a beacon of sorts. It would call forth devils like a moth to a flame. The person would practically glow an aura matching their desire so the devil could find them and determine if they felt like taking the deal.

        She shot up from the chair and before I knew it she had her hand on my throat. "What the hell do you know about what I desire? I want somebody fucking dead and I want him to suffer like I have. If that means going to Hell then so be it."

        Now I could see it. The aura around her was black and cold. She truly wanted someone to die. Now she had my interest.

        With ease, I pulled her hand from my neck before pushing her down to the ground at my feet. My temper had flared up once more. Who did she think she was coming at me like that? I had to push the idea of breaking her arm out of my mind. It was best to not harm a possible client. “Fine, we’ll make a deal, but never touch me like that again.”

        Now I may be an ass, but sometimes even I know when I go too far. Yea, she was kind of stupid for trying to choke out a devil, but she was angry. How many stupid things had I done in the past when I was angry? Just last night I gouged a dude's eyes out because I was in a foul mood. With a grumble I held out my hand to her. Even a devil could be a gentleman sometimes, though that didn't change that it was me that put her down there.

        She smacked my hand away before getting up on her own. What a feisty one she was. Kind of made me sad she wasn't a hooker. "I don't need your help," she spat.

        "Yea, well you came to me for a deal so you wanted it either way." I knew it was a bad retort, I was just running out of things to say. So I struck a topic in the most obvious thing I could think of. "This person you want dead, they the reason your hand looks like it tried to become friends with a meat grinder?"

        She jammed her left hand into her pocket. Must have been a touchy subject. Though she did let out a sigh and took it back from her pocket. "Yea... they did that and much more..." Painful memories covered in scar tissue maybe?

        Devi was slow as she moved, she was hesitating as her hands made their way to her hood. When she pulled it off I was not too surprised after seeing her hand. She had a burn scar around her left eye that went back towards her ear as if a jet of flame had scorched her face at one point. Her skin was almost an ashen color and her head completely bald. There was more burn scars on the left side of her neck that seemed to dip down to her torso. How many scars did she have? Better yet what caused all those scars?

        I was thrown off my game. I mean, in Hell seeing this kind of thing was fairly normal, but here it was few and far between for me. Had to keep my composure though, no one wanted to work with a devil who shied away from some gnarly scars. Had to concentrate now, so I went to my go to stress reliever.

        “So, what’s the name of the poor bastard you want to eat shit?” I asked, pulling a box of matches from my pocket.

        "His name is Andrew Weaver." 

        I fumbled with the matches at the sound of the name.

        Needed to calm my nerves now. I hated it when familiar names came up sooner than they should. As I popped the end of the match in my mouth I caught her eyes looking me over, she seemed concerned or maybe she was confused. "Sorry, I had a cold chill. Its a lot warmer in Hell than here. So how... um... how did he do that to you?"

        She went to hold herself, looking rather somber. "Back when I was ten my house caught fire... It killed both my parents..."

        The grim vibes just wanted to cling to me now. I was going to need another drink after this. "So I guess you weren't home at the time and-"

        "No, I was home," she interjected, "I was in my bed asleep when the fire  through the house. I could hear my mom and dad screaming and when I tried to get to them... Well, that's when everything started collapsing. I should have died with my parents... I don't even know how I survived. I just remember darkness taking over and when I woke up I was outside, the fire trucks were already pulling up..."

        I can only imagine how painful those memories were for her. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she recounted that time for her. These emotions had me chewing the end of the matchstick into sweet oblivion. "So I guess this Andrew guy set the fire and beat the law somehow, didn't he?"

        She let out a pained laugh. "That's the thing, it was ruled as an electrical fire, but I know that's not what happened. I know cause..." Devi wiped away her tears before showing a weak smile. "You'll think I'm crazy for this..."

        "You're talking to a devil who makes a living collecting the damned souls of those foolish enough to make deals for some worldly gain," I joked, "so please, tell me what could be crazier than that."

        It looked as if she was still thinking it over, but what could really be that crazy? I've dealt with all kinds of different things in my lifetime. Hell, I even got to see the death of the last Unicorn! Whatever this was it would be-

        "Some devils told me in my dreams that it was him."

        "Excuse me?" I was going to have to retract my earlier statement.

        "See! I told you it was crazy!" She exclaimed.

        "No, not crazy," I replied, "that's impossible. Devils don't have the ability to slip into people's dreams. Some high ranking demons do, but not a devil."

        "Look, I'm telling you how I know." She was getting defensive. Lovely... "Those little bastards have been pestering me ever since the fire. Almost every night they would tell me who did it and what I should do about it. They even told me I should seek YOU out specifically!"

        I needed to think. So I began to pace as I rubbed my chin in thought. "You said they were little, right? I asked casting a sideways glance towards her.

        "Yea, but what does that matter?" She was the confused one now. "They were red, the tallest one was about four feet tall, and all of them had horns."

        Oh fuck...

        I groaned as I began to rub my eyes. It had to be them, those little fucking, mischievous bastards. "Those were imps, not devils."

        "What's the difference?" I wasn't looking at her, but I could just imagine the confusion written on her face.

        "It’s a fairly large difference, alright, but right now that isn't important." I was going to have to handle some business now, but I needed to get her to leave. "So you're sure you want to do this? It is your soul you're tossing into eternal damnation after all."

        "I'll make sure to kick Satan square in the nuts when I get down there. Of course I'm fucking sure!" Spunk and determination. A very deadly combo.

        "That’d be a horrible idea, but whatever." I made my way to my desk and scribbled out the address of the man she wanted dead so badly. Still couldn't blame her reasoning though.

        When I brought it over to her she was as confused as ever. "How'd you know his address?"

        "Yet again you question things that are super simple while dealing with something that most people don't even believe exist. I'm a devil, I know things, okay?" I'm sure I sounded irritated. I just needed her gone. "Meet me there around eight tonight, we will finalize everything and then you can have his head on a silver platter if you wanted. Now get."

        She didn't need much more than that to get her to leave. With the address in hand she left without much else to say. No thank you or anything. Why were people so ungrateful for fucks sake? With her gone though I could handle some other business that was bugging the fuck out of me.

        With a snap of my fingers a flame came to life on my table, sending the cats running for the hills. When it died down, a small red female stood before me, with a mischievous smile on her face.

        "You haven't called for me in a while, Lukos?" The look on her eyes pissed me off. It showed how smug she was about the chaos she had probably started. "Got something for me to-"

        With both my hands I grabbed her head, jerking her up into the air. "Give me one good fucking reason I don't crush your head like a goddamn watermelon right fucking now?"

         She squirmed against my grip. Imps were never that strong. Only in numbers could they really get anything done. "W-What did I do, boss?"

         "For starters you have been putting cracks into one of my deals since day fucking one, Kazi!" I roared as I shook her by her head. The match I had kept firm between my teeth ignited as my temper brought my body temperature up. "Then on top of that you practically forced me into setting up a deal I'd rather not make while I've got a hangover!"

         "I'm sorry, Lukos! I'm sorry!" She shouted as I shook her more. "We just thought it’d be fun to mess with her head! None of us thought she would actually hunt you down!"

         Her shouting was making my killer headache come back. Now was for sure not the time for this shit. With a low growl I dropped the imp to the floor before putting my foot down hard on her chest, knocking the wind from her lungs. It made me feel a little better to watch her gasp for air.

        "If I find out you have been fucking with any more of my deals I'll ship you out to Tehsat! I'm sure that diva of an incubus could use you to loosen up a bit!" I'm sure my threat struck home as her eyes grew wide. "Now get out of my sight before I really lose my cool."

         The little imp didn't waste any time before bursting into flames. The urge to scream was so profound it wasn't funny. I was left pacing the floor as I tried to get my thoughts together. This was just utter bullshit, something I really didn't want to handle right now.

        Okay, maybe one scream might help.

        "FUCK!" My feline companions went even deeper into hiding, but at least I felt a little better.

        There was really nothing I could do to avoid all of the possible outcomes of this situation. I was going to have to treat this like any other deal, no matter how much I hated it. Why did today have to be so horrible right from the start?

         I had to cool my head before I met up with Devi, that was a must. I also had to burn off this blasted hangover or I'd be even farther up shit creek. So after spending nearly an hour easing the cats out of hiding, which felt rather therapeutic mind you, I finished getting dressed.

        Worn black boots and a Union Jack tank top to go with my ripped up jeans, that was this evening's formal attire. A great outfit for a stressful deal if I do say so myself. As if knowing I was dressed and ready to leave my stomach began to growl like some ravenous beast from the depths of Hell itself. Food would definitely help me and with that I was off.

        I killed off most of the time waiting for the meeting while at a small burger joint. It was a good place to hang and think. No matter what route I took in my mind none of them made me feel any better. Karma was fucking me raw as of late. Guess even unholy beings aren't immune to her wrath. I just hoped that my imps weren’t about to try and fuck me as well after I gave them a simple task to do.

        When it was almost time to meet up with Devi I decided to walk the rest of the way. The summer air felt rather good this night, a refreshing breath of air to help clear my head. When I turned the final corner though and saw Devi on the street corner thoughts bombarded my mind. She had her hood back up, definitely didn’t appear shady at all.

         I pulled my phone from my pocket and acted as if I was having a conversation as I came up to her. "I'd like to report a suspicious individual standing at the street corner that is keeping their face hidden." She did not seem amused. "It almost seems like she wants to get the police called on her!"

        "Why are you acting so stupid?" She asked in an irritated tone.

        "Oh, I'm acting stupid? I'm sorry Ms. Gloom, but who is the one who has been out here, I'm gonna bet for the past two hours, looking like either hoping for a sugar daddy to come get her or a dealer with some of that good shit?"

        Oh, she did not seem amused. I loved it. Made me feel a little giddy inside.

        "Are we going to make this deal or not?" Straight to the point, not something I was fond of. "Hell, why did you want me to come out here anyway?"

        "Look Devi, making deals doesn't happen with the snap of my fingers. Well... It can actually, but nonetheless. There are rules I have to follow," I explained. "Now, I'm sure you've done a good bit of sneaking in your life. See that house over yonder?" I pointed out towards a house across the street that had its curtains pulled open. "Andrew is in there. Go scope out the man who took it all from you. Then we will make the deal."

        "That it?"

        "Yea, that's it." She rushed over to the house, dipping into the bushes and staying low. "Not really..."

        As she peered into the window I could see her posture change. Was she confused or scared now? I hoped she saw what I wanted her to see. No matter, I made my way over to her, ready to get this done.

        When I got over beside her I looked into the window as well. Inside was a happy family, a couple with their daughter to be more exact. They were sitting down to have a meal together. What a wholesome family scene. Was it time to ruin it?

        "There he is, the man who screwed your life years ago." I spoke in a whisper. "Are you ready to make the deal?"

         She turned to me quick, tears flowing free from angry eyes. A rather scary sight of I was being honest. "I want him dead." Her voice shook, but held pure rage. "That should be me and my parents enjoying dinner together. I want his life to end now, Lukos!"

        With a sigh I snapped my fingers. A group of my imps popped up, cackling maniacally as they forced a lighter into her hand and dropped a full gas can off beside her. "So be it. You will sign away your soul once he is dead." Now she looked at me even more confused than before. "I figured setting his home ablaze with him in it would be a rather ironic form of justice. My imps even went the extra mile to set up a seal on every possible exit. No one can enter or leave once the fire has started."

        "This...this isn't what I wanted!" The anger was back. Good, maybe she would be ready. "You are supposed to kill him, not me!"

        “That's where you're wrong, kiddo. Your deal was your soul for his death, not once did you give a how. Now had you told me to kill him, well then that would mean I would have to actually dirty my hands." I explained in a bit of a cold tone. "You pretty much said dealer's choice and my choice is for you to kill him yourself, but don't worry, no one will ever know it was you."

        "This is bullshit!" Why did she have to yell? She had gotten their attention and I could see Andrew going for the door. "Is this how you devils weasel out of a fucking deal?"

        I watched as the front door opened up. There was not time for this kind of shit. “Who’s out there?” It was Andrew and Devi had all but fucked this entirely.

        “Deep breath,” was all I told her before I grabbed her by the wrist and teleported. We reformed at the nearby park. “You’re probably gonna feel a bit sick.”

        As if on queue she was on her knees puking her guts up. Wonder if lunch tasted good coming back? I commanded my imps to gather up the supplies they had left behind as well as remove the seal from the house. More than likely this deal was long over. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was ready to hate my guts worse than that man.

        She stumbled back to her feet and rushed up to me, both her hands clutching the front of my shirt. This time I wasn’t going to smack her away. She needed to let it out. “You ruined my one chance with your stupid shit! He deserves to die for what he did to me and my family! Why did you ruin this for me?”

        “You’re eighteen right?” I asked out of the blue.

        “What does that have to do with anything now? Why are you trying to change the subject?” She shook me as she yelled her questions.

        “I ask cause you said it happened when you were ten, so you must be at least eighteen now.” I answered. “Which means he still has three months and two years left on his deal.”

        “On his deal…?” She was trying to grasp at the meaning of that. “What do you mean on hsi deal?!”

        “I mean-”

        “Did you make a deal with him too?!” She cut me off.

         “Well if you’d-”

         “Are you the reason my parents are dead?!”

         At this point I was not in the mood to try talking to someone who was going to constantly interrupt me. “You know what, how about I show you?”

        I didn’t leave her looking confused for long before I grabbed the sides of her head, pushing my thumbs against her eyes. She was going to have to see everything for herself. There was no reasoning with someone in her state of mind. So I forced my memories into her head.

**_The crisp winter air felt good on my hot skin after I teleported in. I was drawn to this park by the aura of somebody wanting to make a deal. They were desperate, I could feel it. No one ever made deals with a devil unless they had no choice. So when I teleported in I found myself looking at a scrawny man, probably in his early thirties. He was scared, unsure even, as to what exactly was going on._ **

**_“Are you Lucifer?” He asked. “You don’t look anything like the bible described you as.”_ **

**_“Well that’s cause I’m not Lucifer, not even close,” I retorted. “Now what the hell do you want?”_ **

**_He was biting at his lip, probably really nervous now that he was actually here. Had he not thought this all the way through? God, I hated it whenever they were like this. It wasted so much of my free time. I also hated being like all those other devils, making deals where someone would end up dead with wild abandon. They had to give me a good enough reason to make the deal. So I guess taking some time couldn’t hurt here and there._ **

**_"Why do you want this person dead?" I asked._ **

**_This guy was a nervous wreck for sure, unprepared to be asked why. The who was the easy question, but the why was always the hardest question to answer. "You see, mister devil... Sir... There is-"_ **

**_"First off, don't ever call me mister or sir again." I interrupted. "I'm not your boss and I don't have you crawling to me on your knees begging to be fucked. Second off, my name is Lukos. Got it?"_ **

**_"Yes si- Lukos... I understand..." He was looking at the ground now. How spineless could he be?_ **

**_"Look at me like you got a fucking pair and really want someone dead or I'm dipping out right now, ya hear me?"_ **

**_He looked at me with a sudden look of determination. Guess I plucked the right string. "There is a man I work with, a new guy in the company, and he has taken everything from me. I've been demoted because of him and he even took the promotion that would have been mine right out from under me." This was starting to seem like some sob story, an attempt to get my sympathy or something. "I have to work three jobs just to support my family, but even then that won't let us live comfortably. I want to make sure my baby girl has a good life, not one being raised in the streets."_ **

**_"I think I'll pass."_ **

          ** _My words blindsided him, pulling that determination he had just had right out from under his feet. He dropped to his knees and started groveling. Only a broken man would do that. "Please Lukos, I will do whatever it takes to get this done. I need him dead so everything can start going forward! No other job that paid like this one used to will hire me, so I beg of you to make this deal. Please!"_**

**_I bit at my lip out of annoyance as I stepped away from him. I hated it when people got like this. With a snap of my fingers a rolled parchment formed in my hand with a quill._ **

**_"Sign this shit and get to your feet, I hate begging," I told him, dropping the parchment in front of him. "This kind of deal will give you ten years before I come to collect, do you understand?"_ **

**_He gave a frantic nod before scribbling his name on the parchment. Once the deal was sealed the contract burst into flames. The night became silent for a moment before I turned to walk away, I was done here._ **

**_"Where are you going? Is it already taken care of?" He called out, his confusion clear._ **

**_"Head to this guy's house, I'll have an imp follow you to let you know what to do next." I explained. "I'm hungry so I'm out of here."_ **

         Devi momentarily broke my link with her as she flailed and screamed. She didn’t want to see this, but she was going to have to. The next part was going to be the worst so I gripped tighter as I pushed her down to the ground. Hopefully she would thank me for this in the future.

**_Morning was in a few hours so I was enjoying the last of the night at the top of my favorite building. It always felt good to relax up here and with a vanilla shake in hand it was even better. Everything was going good up until a ball of flame burst to life in my lap._ **

**_"Lukos you need to come with now," Kazi stated in a panicked tone._ **

**_"What is so bad that you need to come bother me, you shite little imp?" I asked as I began to sip on my shake._ **

**_"Shit hit the fan with the last deal, I think angels might get involved!"_ **

**_Ice cream spewed from my mouth at the mention of angels. I did not want to deal with those feathered assholes. I grabbed Kazi by the throat and shot up from my perch._ **

**_"Take me there now!"_ **

**_The two of us teleported to the location Kazi had last been and I quickly found myself looking into a wild inferno. A house was going up in smoke and from inside I could hear panicked screams. Not good._ **

**_I looked around to find Andrew and when I saw him he was already halfway down the street. What had he done? Had he just set the place on fire without thinking of who might be inside? I needed to catch him, make him answer for this fuck up and the trouble it was going to bring me. More screams came from inside, someone was still inside, maybe if I saved them the angels wouldn't bother me._ **

**_Tossing Kazi to the ground I teleported inside. This heat was nothing compared to some of the furthest pits in Hell, but it was still annoying as I tried to find the source of the screams. After what felt like an eternity of looking I found a woman trying to pull a door open._ **

**_"Hey lady, you need to get your ass out of here, pronto!"_ **

**_She turned quickly and even past the flames I could see her eyes grow wide with fear. "Why have you attacked my family, Satan? Why are you trying to kill us?"_ **

**_There was no time to correct her bullshit. Why did they always call me by one of their names though? "I don't know what you're doped up on, but we gotta go! Do you have a deathwish?"_ **

**_"I will not listen to any lies that come from your mouth," she replied before going back to pulling in the door, "For I have the power of our Lord and Savior on my side. He will protect me!"_ **

**_She must have pulled hard enough because that door sprung open and before I could move flames came roaring out, engulfing her. Screams of pain barely had a chance to escape her lungs before the ceiling above her collapsed._ **

**_"Shit..." I had fucked up real bad. People not part of a deal were not supposed to die._ **

**_"Mommy! Daddy!"_ **

          ** _I snapped my head towards the sound of another voice. It sounded like a young girl. Maybe I could redeem myself a little. Once more I began to move the burning house as more of it collapsed. This was utter bullshit!_**

**_"Mommy I'm scared!" The girl called out from behind a closed door I nearly passed up._ **

**_"Get back from the door!" I shouted as I grabbed hold of the door knob. With a strong pull I ripped the door from its frame._ **

**_Big mistake..._ **

**_The ceiling gave way and came crumbling down before my very eyes. This was not good, this was not good at all. Everything just got worse and worse with every passing second. Some random girl was dead now and it was all my fault. Those feathered fucks were going to be all over my ass and I couldn't even blame them!_ **

**_No, I couldn't give up like that! Maybe there was a chance she was still alive. I hoped there was still a chance. So I began to throw debris from the collapsed pile before me, not caring about the rest of the house crumbling around me. I had to try to save her._ **

**_An eternity of digging seemed to pass before I found the young girl. She was badly burned, but from what I could tell she was still alive._ ** **_Thank God_ ** **_! I grabbed her and teleported outside just in the nick of time as the house fell completely in on itself._ **

**_Off in the distance I could hear the sirens approach and when I looked up to the sky I could see the blinding light of three angels coming close. I had to get out of here. The paramedics would make sure the girl was alright, surely they would, but I needed to worry more about myself right now._ **

**_"Come on you rats with wings!" I shouted up at the angels. "Catch me if you can!"_ **

**_I teleported away, hoping to get as far away as I possibly could. To get away from where I fucked up as well as from the angels. I didn't want to fight them, but I could feel it in my gut I was going to anyway._ **

        That was it, that was all I could take of this. I pulled my hands from her face and reality came crashing back in on both of us. Whatever dam she had put up to hold back her tears had busted as they flowed like rivers from her eyes.

        "That's what happened, Devi," I told her as I got to my feet. "I don't ever know how my deals will affect someone's life. Maybe if I had know that deal would have lead here I wouldn't have taken it."

        She was silent, surely in shock. Couldn't blame here since I just made her watch her parents die. Might not have been my best idea yet. Those memories were now fresh in my mind and everything they lead up to was clear as if it had happened yesterday. I ran my hand over the splintered remains of my left horn that my hair covered.

         "How many lives do you devils fuck up with your deals?" Her question was shot at me like a bullet. Did she intend to attack my emotions?

         All I could do was shrug. "Fuck if I know." What kind of answer did she expect?

         A boom of thunder sounded off in the distance as Devi and I stared each other down. What could she be thinking about? These humans and their awkward silences, Why didn't she just say something? Anything at all!

         "Why didn't you just turn your back on him?" She suddenly ask as droplets of rain began to fall. "You made me work harder than he did and I didn't even get to make a deal! What's that about, huh?"

         "Well he made it seem like he was in deep shit," I snapped at her, "like your dad was some piece of shit guy just out to ruin his life. I showed you exactly what went down, do whatever you want with the information. For all I care you can go back there and try to kill that asshat for me, one less soul I have to collect in the future!"

         I was at first going to question if I could possibly make her any angrier, but my words answered that for me she gritted her teeth. Devi was pissed now and I couldn't blame her one bit. Here she was with the person truly responsible for the death of her parents. What was she going to do?

         "You're such a piece of shit, Lukos." The rain began to come down now as she balled up her fists. Was she going to try to fight me? "Those fucking angels should have killed you for what you did."

         "Sometimes I wish they had too, okay?" She had struck a soft spot with her words. "Do you think I like living with some of these deaths on my hands? Ever think that maybe, just fucking maybe, that sometimes I might actually rather go back to being tortured by some demon in Hell instead of being up here collecting souls? Yea, I'm sorry that both your parents got killed, but I tried to save your mom and you. I know that don't make up for shit, but guess what, you selling your soul to kill that shithead ain't going to bring them back!"

        Had I triggered something in her mind yet? I really hoped so cause going down memory lane like this was taking a toll on my own emotions. She was just standing there as the rain soaked her, flexing her fists as she thought.

        "You actually tried to save her?" She asked in a low voice. "My mother, I mean."

        What kind of question was that? "Devi you saw my memories, I tried but she wouldn't listen! The least I was able to do was save you!"

        She let out a sigh before pulling her hood over her head. "I need some time to think, I can't process... THIS! My feelings are making it hard..."

        I could understand that. "Well if you wanna talk or need a place to crash, you know where to find me."

        "Yea, I'll think about it," she told me before turning to walk away.

         Humans were a confusing bunch. So emotional and such. Guess it had started rubbing off in me. Either way, I needed to get out of this rain, so with a simple thought I teleported back home to do some thinking of my own.


	3. The Devil's Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a drink is all you need to put the past behind you. Can Lukos and Devi work towards a friendship?

        After I had gotten home I crashed on the couch. It had been a long night and outside the rain was really coming down. I could only hope Devi was doing okay as I flicked on the TV. To be honest, I was a little afraid I was going to see her show up on the news after getting caught by the cops for setting Andrew’s house on fire.

        Mr. Fluff came running up after a few moments to hop up into my lap. He was such an affectionate cat. “What are you thinking about, Fluffbutt?” A soft meow was his response before he started rubbing up against my hand. “Are you only thinking about pets?”

        Another, much louder, meow followed by him nipping at my hand was a rather straightforward answer. So I started scratching behind his ears and he just started purring out. I went from having a cat in my lap to a small motor boat. I wished people were as easy to please as cats. 

        No, that would probably be a bad idea. People would just become more fickle and demanding. Then I’d probably be killing everyone I met within a few seconds of words leaving their mouth. Definitely not a good idea. My stomach started to growl as I was in thought, thinking about how I would kill those that would annoy me. 

        Good thoughts, but food would be even better.

        I held Mr. Fluff up in the air. “You hungry too?” He meowed in agreement and then I looked over to Princess, who was asleep on the desk. “What about you?” She opened her eyes for a moment before letting out a chirp of a meow. Not sure what that was supposed to mean.

        Since I had eaten earlier I figured a small meal would do me some good. A quick bowl of ramen for myself and for my feline companions I topped off their food. The pair wasted no time to rush over, scarfing it down like it was their last meal. Made me think I was living with two fur covered eating machines instead of cats!

        Time went by and as it dipped into midnight with nothing drastic on the news I figured it couldn't hurt to get some sleep. It was as I was getting up I heard a knock on my door. Wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who was on the other side.

        "I was wondering when you wo-" I cut myself short when my eyes fell on Devi, her clothes soaked from the rain and her eyes were red. Must have been crying or something. "Shit, you look like Hell."

        "You would know what that looks like," she retorted. "Mind if I come in?"

        "Yea, get on in here. I'll grab us something to drink." I went back to the kitchen after she got in. This was going to be an interesting night that would require something a little heavy.

        "I've been doing a lot of thinking on the whole situation," she said as I was washing up two shot glasses.

        "What kind of conclusion did you come to?" I was curious as to what she was going to say.

        "I know I really can't blame you for everything," she replied, "so there's that."

        "So I'm off your shit list finally?" I asked sarcastically.

        "Fuck no!" She called out with a slight laugh. "You're just not at the top."

        I came over to the couch where she was sitting, putting down the shot glasses and a fresh bottle of Fireball. "I'm a little hurt that I'm not numero uno anymore. I might just cry."

        "What's that for?" She looked at me with a perplexed look as I plopped down in my rolling chair. "You don't expect me to drink with you, do you?"

        I put my best serious face on. "Of course not, I wish for you stare deep into that shot glass until it bestows on you all of its metaphysical knowledge." An even more confused look was on me now. Guess my humor was a bit dry. "No shit I'm expecting you to drink with me! It'll help take the edge off."

        "Lukos I'm only eighteen," she protested, “this is illegal!"

        "Oh no, the tower of moral integrity I stood so proudly on is crumbling!"

**Thump!**

        I hit the floor a little harder than I intended. A fair price to pay to add some dramatic effect to the moment. When I looked up to Devi she seemed uneasy now. Not good.

        "Look, I ain't gonna make you drink," I assured her as I climbed back into my chair, "it's just been a rough few nights for me and I need the edge taken off or it's going to take my head off. I figured maybe a bit of drink wouldn't hurt you, ya know?"

        "I mean... I guess it couldn't hurt, maybe it will help clear the bats out of my head, but do you think I could get out of these wet clothes?" She inquired, the look in her eyes saying she was trying to buy time. Weighing options set out on the table before her maybe?

        "That is probably a really good idea," I answered as I got up and headed to my room. "Hate for you to get sick or some shit."

        I was pretty sure I had something that might fit her. Be the least I could do cause I did feel a little responsible for leaving her out in the rain. Such a douchebag move on my part. 

        Though she did walk away when she could have just come here, I did offer after all. Still on top of all that was that she did realize I am the fault she became an orphan. What do you know, something someone could actually blame the devil for! Well, not Lucifer as everyone likes to think, but a devil at least.

        These kinds of thoughts and more roamed through my head as I pulled out a shirt and some shorts with a drawstring. It would have to do for the time being. If she didn't like it she could tough it out and chafe in those wet clothes for all I cared.

        "I got you something that you can wear for now while your clothes dry," I called out as made my way back into the main room. "The bathroom is right over- The fuck are you doing?!"

        Now I'm used to a lot of things, but coming out my room to a chick that early hated my guts stripping down wasn't on that list. When I shouted it must have startled Devi cause she turned to me quickly. She looked at me perplexed and I'm sure I was shooting back the same look!

        I held out my hand like a shield as I looked away. This was not what I wanted to see. Well, more of I wasn't ready to see this. If something like this was going to happen it had to be worked up to, not out of the blue!

        "Did you expect me to stay in those wet rags while you rummaged around through your dildo collection?" That sharp tone was back.

        "Okay first off, fuck you," I stated before turning my back to her, "and second off, you don't go stripping down in a dude's house that you just met!"

        "Yea, and when we first met you had your dick hanging out like it was no big deal," she shot back.

        I groaned before tossing the clothes back in the direction I assumed she was. "There is a fucking difference, okay! I kind of had my hopes up for a hooker, not someone seeking revenge. Now go get changed in the bathroom, for fuck's sake!"

        "Can the tough devil not handle seeing a pair of tits?" She asked in a mocking matter as she walked past. 

        When I heard the bathroom door shut I went over to where she had left her clothes. Princess had come over to investigate them herself. “Don’t mess with that, sweetheart, might catch a case of the bitch.”

        A soft meow came from the orange fluffball. Guess my jokes even fell on deaf ears when it came to cats. Someone would eventually get my sense of humor. Didn’t really matter at the moment though. As I gathered up the wet clothes that Devi had left on the floor I lost myself in my own thoughts again. I was thinking about all the deals I had made in the past once more. I thought of Gloria again. Just the thought of her made the bracelet on my wrist feel white hot as a deep, emotional pain crept into my mind.

        I was really going to need this drink now. As hard as it was I was trying to not let my mind wander. That would only make matters worse. After I tossed her clothes in the washer I made my way back to my chair, spinning in it as I sat down. Though I felt I needed the drink right now, my mind told it would only be a decent courtesy to wait for Devi before I started.

        As I spun I heard the bathroom door open again and out walked Devi in my clothes that were a bit baggy on her slim build. Thank God for drawstring shorts or those things would have fallen right off of her. She looked a bit more composed now than she did when she arrived on my doorstep. I’m guessing she had done some thinking while in there.

        Devi went back to the couch and before she even sat down she fired out a question that caught me off guard. "You're not just trying to get me drunk so you could get in my pants are you?" 

        That was entirely out of left field. What kind of shit had she been through growing up?

        "Devi, I can assure you I would never do something like that. I'm a lot of things, but Brock Turner ain't one of them." She seemed to loosen up a bit. "I'm just trying to help ease your mind, I promise."

        She was gone in her head as she fidgeted with her fingers. I went ahead and filled both glasses as she thought. While I gave her some time I pounded my one shot back, enjoying that warm feeling in my stomach.

         Devi still seemed uneasy about this. A sigh escaped my lips as I went to grab her glass. Someone might as well drink it, otherwise it was a party foul to let booze go to waste.

         "I guess a few shots couldn't hurt." She took up the shot with a nervous smile.

         "A few shots, huh? Fine by me, we can stop whenever you want." I filled my glass back up and held it up as if to make a toast. "Here's to the shit memories that make us into the deformed creatures we are."

        "Here's to numbing the pain of the past," she added as she held up her own glass.

        Both of us pounded back our shots together. Where I handled that familiar burn, Devi hadn't been ready. The look on her face said it all, pure disgust.

        "Fuck me... That burns so good..." she said sarcastically.

        "Wanna call it quits?"

        "No, no bartender... Pour me another..." I wonder if that's what I was like the first time I drank.

        "Whatever you say."

        We pounded both of our next shots and as quick as I poured them they were gone. Two shots turned into three, and then three turned into four. It went on and on until the bottle was nearly empty, leaving me a bit tipsy and Devi looking a tad plastered.

        Before we knew it it was three in the morning and I had Faderhead coming from my stereo as I spun around in my chair. Devi was busy giggling and flopping from side to side on the couch as she asked me random questions.

        "Okay, okay... I bet..." she paused to let out a loud belch, a soft chuckle following it. "I bet Marilyn Manson sold his soul to get famous."

        "Nope."

        "I call bullshit!" She exclaimed as she bolted upright.

        "Not bullshit," I retorted with a laugh, "he got where he is on shock value and talent."

        "Well, then who has sold their soul for fame?"

        "Dave Mustaine, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley," I counted the names out on my fingers as I slowly spun in the chair, "Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne-"

        "Shut up!" Devi cut me off. "Avril Lavigne did not sell her soul... did she?"

        "No, no, she didn't." Devi deflated for a second and I smirked. "Her doppelganger did though."

        "Wait, so the conspiracy is-"

        "True as I am red," I quickly answered.

        "Well shit... That bastard Donny owes me a grand now! Fuck yea!"

        Her sudden burst of excitement made me laugh. This was actually really nice. Two drunk fools coming from shitty circumstances. It felt like there was maybe a kindred spirit to be found in Devi if she didn't still hate my guts. Time would tell.

        “Alright, I got a more serious one for you!”

        “Give me your best shot, chrome dome!”

        “I’ll slug you for that later, shithead!” She exclaimed with a smile. “Though for real, I got a serious question. Why exactly do you look like some kind of unholy unicorn?”

        “Unholy unicorn? You talking about my dick or-”

        “No not your dick, you pervy fuck! I mean why the fuck do you only have one horn?” Her question came out quickly, like she felt that if she didn’t ask now there would never be another opportunity. 

        There was a question no one ever really asked me. Well, only other person had ever been Gloria. People didn’t really care to ask why I only had one horn, they were only worried about asking about what kinds of deals they could make. Who knew most humans were only able to think mostly about themselves? What a total shocker.

        "Well, I used to have two horns," I answered as I lifted up my bangs, showing off the short, jagged nub where my other horn had once been, "but one kinda got busted in a fight."

        She seemed perplexed, or maybe it was just her drunk expression. "Can't you just grow it back?"

        I scoffed at her question. "Really ain't that simple. Only two things can break a devil's horns. Something of holy origin or hellish origin." I counted off both things on my fingers. "Nothing else can even chip these horns."

        "So which was it?" She wasted no time asking more questions.

        "To make a long story short it happened when those three angels attacked me after I saved you and ended with me missing a horn, getting these babies," I wiggled my fingers that had the three rings, "as well as this nasty scar."

        I lifted up my shirt to show the scar that went from the front of my left side all the way around to the back. Probably in all the shock of actually meeting a devil earlier in the day had made her not notice it. Scars always told a story, of hardships and of pain. Mine was of pain, but Devi's were of both. Her's were harder to hide so there was no telling what she had to endure growing up.

        "Looks like you were lucky to make it out of that fight alive." Her tone had become solemn. Was she recalling that night again?

        "He had me impaled on his sword. My only chance of escape was to break his shield as a distraction so I slammed my head into, shattering it and my horn." I explained further. "Though instead of just pulling his sword out he sliced it out of my side. Not fun, I can assure you of that, but I killed him before he killed me and now I wear their halos on my fingers."

         Devi tossed back another shot before giving me a serious look. “Had you told me that story earlier I would have said the angel should have lopped off your head… Or at least your dick.”

        “Wishing that kind of punishment on my better half is a little harsh, don’t you think?” I joked. “Though I can’t blame you for feeling that way, I mean cause if I were in your shoes I’d feel the same way.”

        A silence came over us as I kept the shots coming. This was becoming less of a loosening up time and more of a drunk brooding time. Not really a good thing when you were trying to create some kind if relationship.

        "I'm sure growing up you had a lot of people asking you about your scars. Now, I'm not some new version of the Joker and I had a hand in you getting them, so I'm obviously not going to ask that, but..." I readied up my best Heath Ledger impersonation, "I really wanna know how you live with those scars."

        The impersonation got a snort of her, which was a good thing honestly. "At first I was always trying to hide them cause I'd get picked on by other kids in the orphanage. Sucked some major ass!"

        "I'll bet my left nut on that." Got a little chuckle out of her this time. We were back on track, or so I thought before she frowned and let her thumb circle the lip of the shot glass.

        "Some of the families that adopted me, they just wanted to use me as some kind of tax break. During those times they would make me cover them with bandages and shit, ashamed of my very existence and would hide me away during social events like I was the modern day Hunchback of Notre Dame. I got tired of this after I hit puberty and started fights with my foster siblings when they talked shit. Got myself kicked out of homes just to try to find a new one." She scoffed before giving a bit of a smile. "Good times teachings boys not to fuck with some girls. Ever since I threw the first punch to defend myself I coped with the fact that these scars are a part of me and tell a story. They make me unique. Better to stand out than be another blind sheep following the rest of the ignorant flock!"

        "Fuck yea, now that's what's up!" I held my first out to her and we pounded knuckles. The more she talked the more I started to like her company.

        Back and forth our questions went, each of us learning a bit more about the other. To my surprise Devi was actually a talented singer, something she admitted to being normally shy about, but thanks to our good friend Fireball she was more than okay to let out a few bars. One day I might have to get her a record deal, she would probably be able to go places with the voice she had.

        Devi was caught by surprise when I told her I enjoyed watching the news and keeping up with politics, but the surprise faded when I told her it was mainly so I could see who all sold their souls for their positions. What could I say though? Soul deals were the name of the game for us devils, so we liked to see who had managed to get to who. The upcoming election was surely gonna be filled with soul deals, but the question would become who sold their soul to the most powerful devil? It would all be entertaining in the end though.

        The hours slipped past as we had our drunken conversations. I was starting to sober up and getting a little tired. Devi still seemed pretty buzzed, but I caught her yawning here and there. We both needed to sleep, at least for a few hours.

        "Looks like dawn approaches," I mentioned as I pointed towards the window, a bit of light making it through my curtains, "all the creatures of the night should be getting to bed shortly. We should do the same."

        She let out another yawn, her body agreeing with me. "But I'm not even tired yet, I got more questions," she said through the yawn.

        "If you can remember later, drunk you is a shitty liar," I said as I dipped into my bedroom for a pillow and spare blanket.

        "Fuck you!"

        "Are you gonna buy me a drink first?" I retorted as I came back out.

        "Asshole."

        "You got that right, now try to get some sleep." I threw the blanket over her and dropped the pillow in the arm off the couch. "I'll answer any questions you got another time."

        "Fine, fine," she said as she started getting comfy, "but I got one more good one that's bugging me a bit."

         "Shoot." Tired and drunk, a combination like that should create a good question.

         "Have you ever met God?"

         Well that wasn't what I was expecting. Even while inebriated did something in her brain think a devil would ever actually meet God? That was like wondering if a deep sea goblin shark had ever met a mountain goat. In other words, never gonna happen. Though that was the boring answer, not the Lukos answer.

        "Don't you ever bring up that holier-than-thou, fat garden gnome up again around me!" I shouted for shock factor, causing Devi to jump back a bit. "All he does is sit up in his cloud castle doing jack shit for us here on the planet he created while we suffer. So fuck him!"

        "So... You have met him?"

        I scoffed before shooting her a toothy smirk. "Nope."

        She seemed to deflate into the couch. Had her going for sure. I honestly doubt she would even remember asking that question. It didn't really matter though, not like it held any importance.

        "You sure do know how to be anti-climatic, ya know." She told me as I turned out the light.

        "You say that like I'm supposed to care. Now get to sleep, for fuck's sake."

        There wasn't much protest this time. A few mumbled words, but when I looked to her she was out like a light. Good.

        After putting up the booze I made my way into my room. Sleep would be good and my bed was practically calling my name. She begged for me to glide naked into her soft folds to get warm. Who was I to deny my wonderful bed what she wanted?

        Not long after I climbed into bed I found myself just looking up at the ceiling as I lost myself to my thoughts. Thankfully I wasn't lost for long before sleep took me away.

        With morning came a surprise. I had honestly expected my place to be looted or something, instead I found an empty couch with the clothes Devi had borrowed lazily dumped on it. On the table though a note was waiting for me.

**_Lukos, I should probably thank you for last night, even though your methods are a bit illegal. What does a devil care about the law though, right? It did help me clear my head a bit, but I still need to work out some things. I mean, I just got drunk with a guy who inadvertently fucked my life. Can't really just push that off like it's no big deal. Whatever though. Thanks for a good time. I took your key cause I do plan to come back, doubt you'll miss it though with the whole teleporting thing. Just gotta get some stuff settled myself, you know?_ **

        "That little bitch." I couldn't stop the smile that touched my lips.

        I checked the hook by the door and like she had wrote my key was gone. She was right though, I didn't really need it. There was no telling how much dust was on that thing when she took it.

        It was disappointing knowing she was gone. I had hoped to try hanging out with her while she was sober. Try to show her some more good times and all. 

        Having people hate me wasn't unusual. In fact, I'm sure leagues of people have grown to hate me over the many years I've been around, but Devi felt like a different case. At least we had started to put together some kind of friendship.


	4. A Devil's Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukos wakes up to parade outside his loft. What could it hurt to join in on the fun, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains slurs that will be found offensive. They are slurs I have had directed at me personally or very close friends have had directed at them. I do not condone their usage.

        A week had passed and still I hadn't heard anything from Devi. If I wasn't sucked into a movie or video game I kept checking the news. If that girl would do anything to get on the news I was gonna see a mugshot while some news anchor goes about how Devi mutilated some dude's junk cause he got too touchy. The thought always made me snicker. Another thought usually followed though...

        What if she was dead?

        This thought always came and went. I couldn't help myself, she had made an impression on me and I cared about her. When you're a devil making friends doesn't come naturally. So if I had made friends with her, then I had done something right. My only other real friend had been Gloria...

        I always played with the bracelet when I thought about her. It helped soothe my mind as I assured myself she was happy wherever she was.

        These were thoughts I always shook from my head. Devi was too stubborn to die and for sure too tough for anyone to try to take out. If anyone tried they were a fool for sure.

        I hadn't left my place for most of the week. There was no reason to at the moment. No souls to collect or anyone wanting to make deals. It was all rather dull to be honest. So when I was startled awake today by noise coming from outside I only hoped something fun was happening.

        When I poked my head out the window I was greeted with the sight of brightly colored parade floats and people walking along in even brighter outfits. This spectacle stretched on for what seemed like a couple blocks.

        "The fuck is this shit?" I asked myself. "Looks like a fairy ate a rainbow and got the shits."

        Someone below my window started shouting and when I looked down I was blindsided by an army of balloons. I tried fighting them off but their soft, helium filled forms were too much. Their numbers were-

         _POP!_

        After an explosion of helium and confetti I pulled my head back into the window. A balloon exploding in my face was not what I was expecting to have happen first thing in the afternoon. The ruined balloon itself was still stuck on my horn that had impaled it. After removing it from my horn I stretched it out enough to make out that it was rainbow colored with "PRIDE" printed on it in bold letters.

        Well I wasn't completely wrong with the whole fairy thing. I was actually a little surprised. Last time there had been a Pride Parade here the religious nutjobs that ran the city shut it down real quick. Wonder what made them change their minds.

        Maybe this was a sign for me to get out and try to have some fun. Ever since I sent Gloria on to be with her husband again the most fun I had was drinking with Devi. Hell, there might be some interesting people walking about or, which would be even better, a naughty time in some alley.

        With the latter on the table I figured I might want to look somewhat decent. After a look into the mirror above my desk I figured the devil look might run some people off. Probably wouldn't be able to handle my devilishly good looks.

        I chuckled to myself as I cracked my knuckles. "I ain't done this shit in a while."

        I watched as my skin went from red to a nice olive color and my hair grew out completely to give me a head of black curls. Once my horn and tail receded back into my body, the most painful part honestly, I felt like I was looking mighty good. Pretty sure the stranger in the mirror thought so as well.

        The only things left of my hellish appearance where my yellow eyes, sure to throw off anyone who made eye contact. I couldn't bring myself to hide those. No, nothing beat staring someone down when they got too mouthy and watching them freak out a little. It was a classic.

        Princess hopped up onto the desk, meowing up a storm a she looked at me as if trying to figure out who I was. She sniffed at the air and I held my hand out to her. After one good sniff she was running against my fingers.

        "Yea, you still know who I am, baby girl," I told her with a smile.

        Animals were always a lot harder to fool than people. The majority of them with functioning brains seemed to outnumber the amount of humans with them. That was kind of why I prefered an animal's company in all honesty. So after giving both of my fur covered friends some love I decided to get my outfit together. The right clothes could pull any look together.

        A pair of faded jeans was the first thing I pulled on and immediately I realized an issue. Like most of my pants there was a second buckle on the back that created a nice hole between the belt loops. This was so that my tail could stick out without me cutting up my clothes. Had to get them specially tailored and everything. Luckily the my tailor was a furry, so he understood the need for a tail hole.

        If anyone caught sight of that hole it would probably raise some questions. If anyone asked I could probably just tell them it was for easy access should I want to get down and dirty. This being a Pride Parade that would probably be a good excuse. Maybe not the most decent, but buyable.

        To really finish off the outfit I pulled on my Normal Is Dead shirt. Thank you Venice Beach Freak show for your amazing shirt designs. Felt like it was fitting for this kind of event. Surely there would be some nuts trying to say everything going on wasn't normal. There had to be.

        With my outfit together I made my way out to join the colorful masses in their jamboree. I barely had leave the entrance to the complex my loft was situated in before getting swept up into the crowd. Everyone was so happy and just having a good time. The energy filling the air was wonderful.

        Couples were out openly enjoying their love amongst those that accepted them. Friends were here supporting friends who had just come out of the closet. I moved through the thick crowd as if I was exploring a dense jungle. The only difference was that I wasn’t cleaving through the bush with a machete! Everywhere I looked there was just more to take in.

        This was definitely what I needed.

        As my travels through the event continued I took note of different vendors set up on the sides, all selling different kinds of hand made merchandise to show some pride. Bumper stickers showing the different sexualities, cups and mugs decked out in all the LGBT flag colors, and even rainbow flags. I had been about to walk past one when a small woman called out to me.

        "Hey, I see your shirt seems pretty plain," she called, "wanna spruce it up with some support?"

        She was holding a bowl and at first I thought it was full of candy, but the bright colors had tricked me! Curse my sweet tooth! Instead I found it to be filled with buttons with the different flags on them. This was a nice subtle way to show some pride. Not too big or flashy.

        "How much?"

        "Just a dollar a button," she replied. "Want one?"

        "Couldn't hurt, now could it?"

        I fished out the first pansexual flag button I saw and mounted it on my shirt. After which I whipped out my wallet to pay for the little trinket. All I had though were big bills. I held a fresh hundred out to her and she seemed concerned.

        "I don't have change for that, sir..." She seemed a little sad. Money troubles maybe?

        "Now, I didn't ask for change, did I?" Her eyes lit up as put the hundred into the bowl of buttons. "Take it, get yourself something nice."

        "Thank you!" She was practically beaming with joy.

        People always wanted to see anything from Hell as an absolute evil, that nothing we could ever do could be good. They believed all we wanted was to corrupt and control. All that and more got drilled into a person's head by the media and religion.

        That special, little book that told nothing but truth apparently, even though it was written by man and edited by man, was the true guideline for how everyone should live. Could it truly be considered the word of God anymore? If so, it seems God wrote the whole story and no one cares to ask for Lucifer's side of it all.

        I had this little mental rant as I walked, hands shoved into my pockets and my by head held high. As I thought to myself I caught some strange looks cast my way. It wasn't until I saw my reflection in a widow that I realized why.

        "Fuck, I got a serious case of resting bitch face." I told myself.

        With a groan I dragged my hand over my face. I needed to shake the thoughts from my mind. This was supposed to be an event of good positive vibes and support. This was no place for a devil irritated with the workings of the world.

        “God hates fags!” The voice was angry, shouting over the music of the parade.

        Right there, positive vibes were tossed clear through the window. Didn’t even give them the courtesy of opening the damned window. In any case, it couldn’t hurt to go investigate.

        Finding the source of the hateful slurs being tossed around wasn't hard. If this were a case of a needle in a haystack then the fucking needle had a spotlight attached to it. Near the edge of one side of the parade a bunch of people had gathered, waving around signs with things like "Fags are Beasts" or "God hates fag enablers" as well as other ignorant things. A couple of them were clad in Westboro Baptist Church shirts or things that mirrored some of the signs. It was a Christian protest against a bunch of people openly being who they were. Big shock there, especially coming from one of the most notorious churches in America.  
  
        Up on the frontlines I could see a couple parade goers mocking the church and trying to stir them up with displays of affection. Even though I enjoyed a good violent display at protests, it was the ones were not a single fist got thrown that became the most heated. I couldn't resist inserting myself into the situation to heat the pot until it boiled over.

        “Thank God for dead fags!” A woman shouted as I moved in closer.

        “Live and let love!” Some guy called back from beside me in response.

        “Sinners like all of you will burn in Hell!” The man dressed like a preacher shouted out that line just as I made it to be face to face with the religious protesters.

        “No wonder more people decide to sin then,” I retorted with a sneer. “They would rather go to a party that never ends instead of some cloudy place filled with dusty nutsacks like y’all that don’t even know how to hang.”

        The hateful glare the preacher was giving me only made me want to egg him on more. “I will thank God when He smites each and every last one of you vile creatures; casting you all into the flaming pits of Hell where-”

        “Where we belong, right? Do y’all Christian wackos just use the same script at your protests?” Being cut off seemed to throw him off a bit. Guess he wasn’t used to that kind of thing. “Speaking of thanking God, lets just take a moment to thank His holy ass for idiots like y’all. Whackjobs like you really tend to spice events like this up just right. A round of applause for the entertainment here today, folks!”

        I had a couple of people laughing around me as I started a sarcastic slow clap. A few even joined in! Amongst the church crowd I could see some faces going red like tomatoes. Were they getting mad? I sure as fuck hoped so, otherwise this was just gonna become boring really quick.

        “Boy,” the priest spoke up again, anger edging at his tone, “you spit in the face of God with your attitude. You will regret that as you burn for eternity.”

        “So I’m spitting in the face of God right now, huh Mr. Broken Record?” I scratched at my chin for a moment as I looked around at those around me. They seemed eager to see what would happen next. Now, the dude who stood next to me seemed to be the most eager of them all.

        He looked to be in his late twenties, rocking a rainbow colored mohawk that stood high on his head and a leather jacket. I had to give it to him, pride punk was a good look and he was totally rocking it. On top of all that he wasn’t a bad looker. Perfect for what I had in mind.

        I put my hand on his shoulder and smirked. “What’s your name, friend?”

        “Me?” It looked like I caught a gay deer in headlights. “Well, it’s Danny.”

        “Danny, huh?” A rather plain name for such a flamboyant look in all honesty. “You can call me Lukos. Now that greetings are out of the way, do you want to help me piss these bible thumping fucks off? I need your consent or else I ain’t any better than them.”

        Man, his expression just made it seem like he got caught in the high beams now. "S-Sure..."

        He seemed so sheepish, it was adorable in all honesty. Guess I was going to have to lead, so I pulled him in close and with a devilish smirk said, “Pucker up, pretty boy.”

        I dipped him down like a sailor tipping a nurse for a deep kiss. Though this war was far from over, just like the kiss at the end of World War 2, it held a lot of meaning behind it. At least in my opinion it did. It was a giant middle finger right in their face, and if what they said was true, right in the face of God. The self righteous bastard could go fuck himself for all I care.

        A kiss like this had been made to celebrate the end of a war way back when. This kiss though was not at the end of a war, but a bombshell dropped into a war zone. Though this guy I held tightly was a complete stranger he seemed more into the kiss than even I was! Always good to find someone so full of passion, or maybe lust, in these kinds of situations.

        "You dare-" I held up a finger to interrupt the preacher.

        Nobody was going to ruin this for me. What was at first a spur of the moment was now a bit of a release for me. Definitely needed to get behind closed doors with this guy sometime.

        "Boy, you are-" Again I cut him off, this time flipping him the bird.

        After such a long kiss I brought my punk friend back up so that he could breath. As our lips parted ways he seemed extremely flustered and riled up, all in a good sense of course. Who could blame him?

        Snatching a flier and pen from one of the church goers, I quickly scribbled my address down before shoving the paper into the flamboyant guy's hands. "Meet me at my place later. We HAVE to finish what we started, ya dig?"

        "Y-Yea, for sure, man!"

        He quickly hurried off, a prominent bulge in his pants. What a yummy snack he was going to be later. If he didn't break after the first go I would have to get his number for sure.

        I turned on my heels with a devilish smirk aimed at the disgusted faces of the church. "NOW, you can speak."

        "Such an abhorrent display of sin shall not go unpunished," the preacher spat out those words laced with venom. "None of you are free of sin nor free from the clutches of Satan."

        A bunch of the people behind me shot back with snide remarks and different forms of practically saying they didn't care what he thought. You'd think he would have gotten the picture by now. All of them in fact! They weren't welcome here and wouldn't be changing any minds.

        "If I'm not mistaken, isn't only your God supposed to play judge?" I asked mockingly. "I mean, unless you're trying to steal his job. If you are good for you! Be some pretty big shoes to fill unless you pack them with all your bullshit." 

        They say you shouldn't poke a bear, it never ended well. In this case I'm pretty sure those of the church saw themselves as the bear. As a stone came flying over into my group from its midst I could only assume I had poked too hard. My hand shot up and caught the stone cause I be damned if I let them do some shit like that on my watch.

        "Guess someone thinks themselves to be without sin," I said as I turned the rock over in my hand.

        I looked to these people now, how badly I wanted to drop this disguises and watch them run; show them how powerless they were in this situation. Instead I let my eyes glow, a scare tactic that caused them to at least take a step back. Did some of them realize what they were up against? I could only hope so as I felt my imps creep along the shadows of the crowd, invisible to the naked eye.

**_Make the rest of their time here a living Hell until they leave._ **

        My intention was clear as I sent the thought out to all my imps. They all gave off auras of excitement as their mischievous brains were filled with thoughts. Would they enjoy this more or me?

        It probably be them. Lucky little bastards get to have all the fun today. I’d have to reward them later.

        "Hope you guys enjoy your karma." I calmly said, dropping the stone and turning to walk away.

        My imps swarmed the church members, ripping up signs and biting at exposed flesh. They wouldn't kill unless I told them to. No, right now it was all about making those fuckers suffer like they have done to so many others. Karma is a bitch, and right now karma was synonymous with ME.

        I wore the biggest shit-eating grin as I walked through the crowds now. This was the best I had felt in so long in fact. I was in such a good mood that I splurged a little bit as I passed by some vendors.

        I didn't buy anything for myself though. Nah, I was being a bit more generous than a devil should be permitted. If someone was browsing a vendors trinkets I'd slip them a solid hundred or so, Make sure they could get whatever they wanted. Surely I wasn't the only person allowed to be having a good day, right?

        Sadly though, everything good always came to end. Karma was in fact a bitch. Only this time, her attention was in me.

        A pair of strong hands gripped me tight before tossing me like a piece of paper into a nearby alley. I had no time to ready myself, I was stunned. No one had ever manhandled me before and it wasn't over yet.

        As I tried to get to my feet those hands found me again and damn near lifted me out of my skin before slamming into a wall. Everything went blurry for a moment. Whoever this fucker was, they were tough as shit!

        "I saw what you did back there!" It was a deep voice, but female for sure. I was getting my ass beat by a dame? "Give me a good reason not to send your ass to Hell right now, shit stain!"

        I shook the fog from my vision and focused in on my assailant. It was in fact a woman, a large one at that too! She had what looked like Norse inspired tattoos covering her dark skinned form; from her bald head all the way down to her waistline. The crop top she wore showed me that and her well built muscles. Was this the female Juggernaut or some shit?

        "I don't know what your deal is lady, but you're fucking with the wrong person, ya hear?" I smirked before teleporting out of her grip.

        Or so I thought...

        Before I had even fully come back into existence I found one of those massive hands wrapped tightly around my throat and slamming me against the wall opposite of where I had been. "No tricks devil!"

        Shit, this was not good. This was no normal human. No, no human could track a devil teleporting like that let alone expect it! My mind was racing as I tried to free myself from this tree trunk of an arm of her's. I was losing my cool, which was not like me. I never lost my cool and always kept control, but now I felt something different.

        Was I starting to panic?

        My eyes darted over this woman, trying to find some kind of leverage. No hair to pull and her eyes were just out of my reach. Her fingers were like an iron vice so breaking those was out of the question. Then there was the black band on her arm.

        Wait...

        My eyes shot to that band on her bicep. It was metal without a doubt and it had an iridescent sheen to it just like my rings. I was in a worse situation than I had thought.

        "You're a fallen angel..." I choked out.

        "You got that right, hellspawn," she replied coldly, "and I'm about to break you in half for sending your imps on those people."

        I scoffed as I managed a half grin. "They fucking deserved it..."

        "And you deserve this, you worthless-"

        "What are you doing, Ram?" A familiar voice this time. "Why are you attacking that dude?"

        I looked over and there stood Devi. Was this the gathering of bald chicks? Though all jokes aside I was happy to see her here, but how did she know this bitch?

        "Glad to see you're alive, Devi..." She wouldn't recognize, but it be funny to fuck with her head a bit.

        "How do you know her name?" She smacked my head up against the wall with the end of her question.

        Man, didn't I pick a bad time to fuck with someone. "You know... When you start with the head everything tends to get a bit fuzzy and you don't usually get a good answer..." Even with a throbbing headache the feathered bitch caused I couldn't pass up pissing her off a little more.

        Devi stepped up now, she looked confused and pissed. "Have you been stalking me?"

        "Thought you'd recognize me after you got drunk at my place..." My smirk didn't leave as I dropped my disguise. Devi went from looking confused to shocked. "Your face is priceless right now, I hope you know that..."

        "Stop with your tricks, devil!" Once more my head bounced off the wall. This bitch must have thought I was a bouncy ball or some shit! "You won't be able to trick Devi into any nefarious deals or convince me to join your gang."

        "What gang are you talking about..?" I questioned, now being the one facing confusion.

        "Don't you play coy with me, scum."

        "Ram, let him down," Devi told the fallen angel, "he is practically harmless. Kinda like a toy dog with a loud bark."

        "I'm right here you know..."

        "No!" Ram shouted, her grip on my throat tightening. "This devil is an issue that needs to be taken care of before he can bring us any trouble."

        Devi was looking pissed now. "Ramiel, put him down right now! He isn't going to hurt anyone!"

        Her voice was so stern. It was impressive to see someone stand up to an angel like that, let alone a human! Devi had earned a good bit more of my respect just now.

        I was dropped to my feet and immediately took in a deep breath. Seemed this angel still had a leash, just a new master. Then there was that name. This just got juicy.

        "Did I hear that name right?" I asked as I rubbed my throat. "Ramiel, the Thunder of God in the flesh? I heard you had been killed in some wild battle, but it turns out you fell from grace? What could you have done to deserve that?"

        "That is none of your concern," she answered, practically shooting daggers at me from her eyes.

        "This is a lot of my concern!" I shouted as my curiosity built up. "I wanna know what one of God's favorite soldiers did to get cast out."

        Ram seemed to get uncomfortable with the topic of her fall. Those dark eyes held so much rage and resentment. I could just feel the air around her get heavy. This angel had done something she regretted.

        Devi must have felt the change in the air, her expression changing to one of concern as she took one of Ram's massive hands into her own. Almost immediately Ram's hard expression softened from the touch and the way she looked down at Devi told me so much.

        "Wait a second! Are you two..." The word got lost on my tongue as pieces to a puzzle started falling into place.

        "What does it matter to you, Lukos?" Devi asked sarcastically.

        "It tells me so much is why." I couldn't hold back my laughter as a couple theories popped into my head. "Was the mighty Ramiel cast down cause all she wanted was to munch on some top tier human carpet?"

        I didn't see the fist coming until it nearly knocked my jaw off and sent me to the ground. A metal taste welled up in my mouth before I spit out some blood. Yummy!

        "You know nothing, devil." Ram had gone cold again, now looming over me like a tower of meat.

        It was going to take more than that to shut me up now. I chuckled as I climbed back to my feet and looked up at her. "I know a lot of jokes, and that counts for something. So tell me, did daddy not like your suggestion of all-you-can-eat taco Tuesday?"

        Another punch nearly knocked me out of my skin as I fell back into a pile of trash. Seemed like someone didn't like my jokes. Tough crowd.

        "Your jokes belong in the trash, Lukos," I focused on the blurry form of Devi as she spoke, "and honestly so do you right now."

        "Alright... Alright... I deserved those two licks..." I told them as I made my way to my feet once more. Everything had started to spin as a ringing sound filled my ears. "I 've got one last question though and then we can all go on our merry ways..."

        "Speak quickly then cause I'm tired of your shit, fiend!" Ram was so harsh.

        "Does Lesbians-R-Us actually carry your size in flannel shirts..?"

        I knew the blow was coming and gritted my teeth as it made contact. Me and the ground were becoming really close friends. When I could see straight again I was going to have to buy it a drink.

        My vision was going dark around the edges. That angel had one hell of a punch. Anyone else would probably be missing their heads after the first. Still I was able to make out Devi coming in close.

        She stood with her hands in her hips and shook her head. "You deserved that, Lukos. I can only hope you learned something here." She wasn't entirely wrong.

        As my vision began to fade more the ringing in my ears grew louder. I was able to make out Devi's lips moving, but no words reached me. Had the bitch of an angel punched me so hard I went deaf? The pair walked away as everything grew dark and I blacked out.

         _The angel's golden blade barely missed as I dipped down, aiming my daggers for his stomach. With a strong flap of his wings he pushed himself backwards, leaving distance between the two of us leaving my blades to cut empty air. He was a warrior without doubt, not just some grunt._

         _I could still hear the sirens off in the distance and the dark sky had an orange glow to it thanks to the burning house I left behind. I could only hope that kid was alright, but that was a distraction I had to push from my head. Two angels lay dead to the side of us, their golden blood staining the ground and their halos burning the flesh of my fingers._

         _"I had no idea a kid was involved back there," I stated, "and I wouldn't make a deal if I had known a child might get hurt. Let's just go our separate ways and neither of us has to die."_

         _"You speak with a forked tongue, devil!" The angel shouted back. No surprise that he wouldn't listen. "The blood of that family and my brothers is on your hands; form them I must seek justice!"_

         _"You fucks attacked me! I didn't want to fight!" I hated it when people didn't even attempt to listen, but angels were always the worst. "They died because I defended myself! Do you really think I was just gonna let you gut me?"_

         _"Enough talk, fiend! I will take great pleasure in cleaning your blood from my blade." He banged humus sword against his silver shield, a sign of an impatient warrior for sure. "Have at you!"_

         _He charged forward, the time for conversation was over. It was kill or be killed and I had no plans to die here. My daggers at the ready I steadied myself for the assault._

         _His sword came swinging down faster than he flew. I let the holy blade slide over my dagger as I ducked under the angel, quickly swinging my other dagger at his side. My strike struck true and I watched as the angel tumbled to the ground._

         _"Come on, man. It really doesn't have to be like this!" I pleaded. "Go back to heaven, tend to your wounds, and mourn the loss of your allies. Don't try to continue this or it will end in your last breath."_

         _He used his sword like a crutch as he got to his feet. Even with my dagger buried up to the hilt in his side he showed no sign of wanting to back down. Why did angels have to be so stubborn? This could have been over without any force being needed, but no! Feather boy had to be all righteous and shit._

         _"You dare insult me with your attempt at bargaining?" He gritted his teeth and groaned as he pulled my jagged blade from his side. "Though it will only be one less devil in the world, the world will be a much better place once I have your head."_

         _He went to toss my blade to the ground, I took advantage of the moment. In the blink of an eye I teleported behind him, grabbing my dagger midair and driving it down into his thigh as my other found a new home in his shoulder._

         _His wings extended suddenly, knocking me back a good bit. I regretted not cutting into his wings. That be a tactic I would have to carry into my next encounter with an angel for sure. Though the damage I had done was starting to show as my feathered friend seemed to struggle to hold his sword up._

         _"I'm giving you one last chance," I told him as two more daggers manifested into my hands, "cause I really don't want to have to kill you!"_

         _He turned to face me with a scowl. "Your life is the only one to reach an end here!"_

         _I watched as he lowered his center so that he could use his shield for more defense. For someone saying he was going to kill me he sure was defensive. What a fool._

         _"Better not curse me with your last breath..." I smirked before teleporting behind him, my dagger aimed for the side of his head. "You only have yourself to blame for this!"_

         _He moved quicker than his injuries should have allowed. Before I could react I felt his holy sword impale me. I had been played! Who would have thought an angel would be able to be so tricky._

         _"You are going to need to take your own advice, fiend."_

         _My hands gripped the angel's arm, pushing back as I felt the blade push in deeper. When the guard of his blade pressed against my stomach I knew I had to backtrack. I had to teleport. I had to concentrate._

         _With the intense pain setting off every alarm in my head as I tried to break myself down I could feel my body slowly pulling itself apart. This would be so much easier had I not been turned into a spicy shish kabob._

         _"You will go nowhere." The angel's melodic voice had a cold tinge to it as he pushed harder against his sword. "I will watch as you draw your last breath so that I know my brothers have been avenged."_

         _With how things were looking, he wasn't going to have to wait too long. The holy metal made me feel like I was on fire as every nerve tried to understand this pain. As I tried to fight the pain off, but darkness was closing in around my vision. I had to think fast. What I needed was this sword out of my stomach._

         _I needed to trick him somehow, but I would need a weapon to finish him. My eyes fell on his shield, the metal acting like a giant mirror. I looked like absolute shit. What a shame one of the last things I would see would be my own ugly face. The crack in his shield at least made me look a little better..._

         _Wait, a crack in his shield?_

         _My mind fought past the pain to focus on the crack. It was just big enough that surely it was fucking with the integrity of the metal. If it wasn't I didn't have anything to lose right now. It was live or die and I had to make a choice as my black blood spilled to the ground._

         _"How strong... Is your defence..?" I asked weakly._

         _He seemed more than confused. "God watches over me and fuels my faith. My faith is my ultimate defense and will not waiver, thus my defense is indestructible. Now stop your nonsense and die, devil."_

         _"Ultimate defense, huh..? What about that crack there..?"_

         _He gave his shield a worried glance and when our eyes met again I spat my blood into his eyes. The angel pulled back just enough for me to move and raised his shield. Aiming for the crack I slammed one of my horns into the metal. A loud crack could be heard before a near deafening explosion rang out._

         _My plan had been to distract the angel, make him pull his sword right out. Instead he pulled it to the side, slicing its way out my of stomach and side in a fluid motion. Everything seemed to slow down around us as shards of the shattered shield spread out like shrapnel._

         _As I was launched backwards from the explosion I saw my horn tumbling through the air. It was just within arms reach. I could feel my life slipping away as my innards started to spill out from the wound. There was no doubt about it, I was going to die, but there was no way I was going to die alone. I grabbed my broken horn and concentrated as hard as I could._

         _My body ripped itself apart and when I reformed I saw the shock in the angel's eyes. "Draw your last breath, you feathered fuck!" With my broken horn I struck true, driving it deep into his forehead._

         _The forward momentum we both still carried from the blast sent us tumbling across the ground. When I found myself looking up at the stars, the warmth of my body leaving me as my blood did, I knew if that angel had somehow survived I was done for._

         _I closed my eyes and awaited for the sweet embrace of death. There was no way I was gonna make it out of this. As I waited I felt a cool breeze blow by and with it a new pain surged to life on my right hand. It was his halo, the damn thing was now on my hand like a ring. I could feel it. Which meant the angel had finally died._

         _I permitted myself a soft laugh at the irony of the situation. I had killed all three angels, but only at the cost of my own life. There had be some sort of poetic irony in that._

         _“Master!” The familiar voice seemed so distant at first before it grew louder and louder. “Master, you can’t die here!”_

         _I had hoped death would come quicker, to end my pain and send me into oblivion, instead I was still here and when I opened my eyes I found Kazi looking down on me. The familiar little imp was a bit of a comforting sight in these final moments. Her short, red form reminded me of all the mischief I had her caused. The thought brought a small smile to my lips._

         _“You can’t just let me die in peace.?” I joked as I closed my eyes again. “Gotta annoy me even now..?”_

         _“I’ll take you to see, Tehsat, he will be able to fix you up.” She was frantic. It must have been due to the blood loss, but I found it rather adorable. “You always did say he was good with his hands.”_

         _I couldn’t even let out a good chuckle. This little imp had no idea what she was saying. Yea, I always said he was good with his hands, but not in the way she thought! This was good. At least I got a little humor before dying._

        A hard smack brought me back to reality. Where I had once found myself laying in the grass surrounded by my blood, now I was back in the dirty alley in a puddle of what I could only hope was nasty, rain water.

        Kazi was looking down on me again. It had to have been her that smacked me cause none of my other imps had the balls to touch me like that. The little, red bitch had been with me from the start and over the centuries she had grown bold, but she was still the most obedient and loyal.

        "Lukos, you gotta get up!" She exclaimed frantically. "An angel showed up and attacked us while we were torturing those church folk. She killed a couple of us, but we all mostly got away."

        "Anyone important for?" I asked, slowly getting to my feet while my head was ringing like a bell.

        The scar on my side came alive with pain as I moved. It was almost like it was a fresh wound once more after all these years. The pain left me questioning why all my memories since I woke up as a devil were so vivid, but anything before that was a bleak void. It really sucked ass.

"Just a couple of no names that tried to fight back." Kazi answered, her eyes darting around as she spoke. She was scared just like back then with those other angels. "We should leave now before she tries to come after you!"

        With a groan I ran my hand over my head. That angel had hit me a lot harder than I had expected, but what did I expect from someone who had been known as the Thunder of God? It definitely wasn't going to feel like getting hit with a pillow that was for sure.

        I ignored Kazi's frantic warning to get the hell out of Dodge and took the time to look into the puddle I had been laying in. My face was still a little banged up, a bit of bruising here and there, but it was all healing up. There was no telling how bad I had looked before I blacked out. Thank you unholy healing factor.

        The little imp grabbed a hold of my hand, trying to pull me along to wherever she must have thought to be safe. "Let's go! Come on!"

        "Stop Kazi!" I snapped as I jerked my hand away. "That angel ain't gonna be coming back. She just wanted to send some kind of fucked up message so stop worrying. Lets just hurry up and get home, alright?"

        She looked up to me, her eyes showing pain and fear, before slowly nodding. Kazi then quickly disappeared, leaving me alone in the alley again. Now, with a lack of any others present, my emotions began to well up inside. I grit my teeth and tried choking them down as a growl slipped from my mouth.

        I was never good at fighting my emotions.

        "Fucking feathered bitch!" I shouted as my anger boiled over and I punched a wall.

        The brick reacted as if a battering ram had slammed into the wall, crumbling around the point of contact. My chest heaved as I tried to swallow what anger remained. No matter what, angels always pissed me off.

        I had to regain my cool before I got home. There was no way I was gonna let my anger run me with those two furballs depending on me. If anything bad happened to them what would Gloria think?

        I took a deep breath as my hand went to the bracelet on my wrist. I breathed out all my anger as I cooled my nerves, using the moment of calm to take on my human disguise. Just needed to get home without an incident.

        After another deep breath I decided a simple walk home would clear my head. Give me more time cool off and shit. So I got to walking, pushing thoughts of the angel out of my head entirely.

        The parade was coming to a close as I made my way back home. People were cleaning up and vendors were packing up their shops. All the positive energy just radiating off the people I passed was nearly overwhelming.

        It was nice.

        As I was about to head into the complex I called home I could feel someone reaching out, pleading with whatever force that would listen for help. I had considered this my day off, but a deal meant a soul and that meant one soul closer to getting what I wanted. It felt nearby anyway so it couldn't hurt to check out.

        Seemed the source of the pleas were closer than I thought as I walked a few streets down towards another alley. You would think I would avoid alleys after what happened, but as far as I could tell that feathered fuck was gone. So hopefully no more surprise ass beatings for me.

        "Get up, you dirty niggers, we aren't done teaching you your lessons." It was a gruff voice that used the slur that flared up my anger.

        I quickly turned into the alley to find myself looking at two cops standing over two people. From the look of it they barely looked like they were twenty! What the fuck was this shit?

        "He said get up!" One of the cops shouted before kicking one of the guys on the ground. "You were standing all proud after spraying your faggot shit all over the wall, so stand while you get punished for it."

        Were these fucks beating up on them using graffiti as a just reason? I wasn't going to stand by and let this happen. If there was one thing I hated almost as much as angels it was a assholes like this. It always rubbed me all kinds if the wrong way to hear people spouting out slurs like that with such hatred. I had a lot of pent if anger, now these guys were gonna get every ounce

        "I thought the motto was serve and protect, not threaten and assault!" I called out as I made my way into the alley.

        I got their attention, that was for sure when they stopped beating on the two guys on the ground to look at me. One of them looked like he been doing the Hobbit diet while the other looked like he hadn't slept in months. Both looked to be in their early forties so surely they had plenty of dirt to use against them staining their souls.

         _Kazi, get me the juiciest secrets you can find in their heads._

        Not even a second after I sent the thought out I saw a shadow dart across the ground before merging with the fatter cop's shadow. If she went straight to him that must mean she smelled some really yummy sin. This was gonna be good.

        "This is an official police matter," the tired looking cop started, his hand going for his holster, "you will leave or you will be arrested for harassing officers."

        "Oh, so beating on people with a different skin tone is now classified as an official matter?" I asked with a bit of a growl. "I would have thought you two would have a more important matter to attend to. In fact, I'm pretty sure Dunken Donuts has some fresh coffee and a baker's dozen just waiting our men in blue here."

        Both cops drew their guns and I actually froze for a moment. Every muscle tensed up as my blood began to boil. How dare they pull their guns on me! They were going to pay and I watched as a dark shade moved from the fatter cop to the tired cop's shadow. A few seconds more and Kazi would be done. Then I could really do some damage.

        "Alright, you dirty sand nigger. Get on the ground your under arrest." It was the fat cop shouting the order and I had to grit my teeth.

        "Sand nig-" I couldn't even let that word slip over my sinful tongue. "This what you do to get your jollies off? By being a racist sack of shit?"

        "He said get on the ground!" Tired boy wanted to shout now, how lovely. "If you don't comply we will open fire!"

        "Escalating things rather quickly now aren't we?"

        I looked past the two fucks, watching as the two guys on the ground lifted their heads. They had been beaten pretty bad. These cops were going to pay. I could feel the pleas for help radiating off the younger of the pair. Couldn't take his soul, he was far too young. Another soul would have to make due for payment. With clenched fists I walked forward.

        "I warned you!"

        The gunshots rang out and before I knew it I could feel the bullets punch me in the chest. I counted two and man did it sting like a bitch, but I kept moving. Another gunshot and this time it seemed like they aimed. I felt the impact dead center of my forehead. That one actually hurt!

        I stopped and gave a guttural growl as my black blood ran down my face. "Guess the charade is up now."

        "What the hell?"

        "I shot him in the head!" The fat cop shouted. "Why isn't he dead?"

        I dropped my disguise and watched the terror spread over their faces. After giving my neck a quick crack I began my walk once more. I was so tired of this game and Kazi could tell as she quickly darted over to me.

        "Sleepy boy has a cheating wife." Her voice was a whisper in my ear. "Fatass is giving it to her."

        I flashed a wicked smile at the information. This just got a whole lot easier now. These two fucks were gonna got straight to hell and get what they deserved now.

        "Man, y'all were sure talking a lot when I looked human. Got nothing else to say cause I sure as fuck look different now?" I flexed my fingers as I stared them both down. "Doesn't my red skin trip your supremacist ideals? Surely my horn and tail does! Come on, spew out some more racist bullshit!"

        "Jesus Christ..."

        I teleported behind the tired cop and gripped his shoulder tightly. "He isn't here right now, but you can talk to me instead cause I'll actually listen. Even if you want to talk about... Oh, I don't know... Your cheating wife."

        "What...?"

        "Oh yea, I know exactly who she's been with too." I answered as I cast a devious smile towards his partner. “We can make a deal and I will guide you right to them so that you can watch them suffer. What do you say?”

        "Steve, listen to me," fatty was starting to sweat now, "that thing is just lying to you. It's the devil, man.”

        “Oh, I am a devil alright,” I assured him, “which means you should know if I offer you a deal your soul is payment, but my word is true. So what do you say? What’s your soul for a bit of justice for such infidelity?”

        “Don’t do this, Steve! No deal is worth that price, man!”

        With who I could only assume was Steve put in such a predicament, it was understandable for him to hesitate. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I had a gut feeling he already knew his soul was damned. I knew I I had him in the palm of my hand and his partner didn’t want this information to get out so easily. THey had both become my personal play things.

        “Y-Yea…” Steve stuttered as he slowly nodded his head. “We have a deal…”

        “Wonderful… Now, to hold true on my end I shall tell you this simple, little thing.” Flashing his fat partner a toothy grin I took Steve’s hand that held his gun and slowly guided it so that he was aiming at his partner. “The person guilty of fucking your wife behind your back has been a lot closer than you could have ever imagined.”

        As I held onto his hand, I could feel Steve shaking. Was it fear? Could it be rage? Either way, this was turning into a great stress reliever.

        "What is he talking about, Charles?"

        "Steve, we have been partners for years. That thing is lying to you and trying to turn you against me."

        "Who do you really think is lying to you right now, Steve?" I guided his finger to the trigger as I whispered in his ear.

        "Have you been sleeping with Sharon..?" The pain was clear in his voice as the question left him.

        Charles seemed to really be fighting an inner battle, his mouth opening and closing as he frantically dug for the right words. The truth was in the open now and nothing would sweep it back under the rug. No, he had to face the ugly mess he had made.

        "Tell me the truth!" Rage was taking hold of Steve. "Please tell me you haven't been sleeping with my wife!"

        Charles grit his teeth as he shook his head in defeat, looking angry with himself for getting into this situation. "Yes, Steve, I have been... It was an accident, man... It started after me and you got really drunk and you blacked out on the trip home... I helped put you in bed and then... I was drunk and she didn't stop me... I'm sorry, buddy..."

        Steve seemed to lose everything once he heard those words. Hope and emotions just vanished as he slowly lowered his gun, but I wasn't going to let this game end like that. My new toy wasn't going to be broken by some bad news. I just had to wind him up some more, that was all.

        "Your best friend has been fucking your wife and all he can say is he is sorry." I goaded him and made him bring the gun back up. "Every day you have busted your ass and he has been busting her's! What if this has been going on longer than he says? I'm sure you have kids, Steve? What if they aren't actually your's?"

        "My kids..."

        "Steve lets talk abo-"

        Charles was cut off as a bullet punched him in the center of his face. The wall was painted a lovely shade of red and as the corpse fell to the ground I could imagine that wicked chalk outline it would make. Everything had gone swimmingly. Now there was just the matter of collecting my payment.

        "I killed... I killed him..." Steve was more than broken now as realization of what he had done set in.

        "That you did," I replied rather smugly.

        "What now...?"

        "Well, you're going to be tried for murder and go to prison." I answered coldly. "You'll probably run into a lot of people you've put in there and my guess, if you don't get shanked, is that you're gonna be someone's personal cumdump. Doesn't that sound like a wonderful time?"

        "I can't go to prison..."

        "Well there is a second option, real simple too."

        "What is it...?"

        I guided his hand once more until the barrel of the gun was under his chin. "Simple, you pull the trigger."

        The dumbfuck hesitated for only a moment. His final deep breath was silenced by a final gunshot. Before it could leave his body to go to judgement I ripped out his soul before sending it off to my little storage unit down in Hell. He probably wouldn't be worth much, but it got me closer to what I wanted in the end.

        I was pulling a bit of skull and gray matter out of my hair when I remembered the two guys that had been on the ground. Neither of them would be a problem in all honesty so I didn't think it would matter to threaten them not to speak of this. Besides, they had been through enough bullying today to last a lifetime.

        "You two alright?"

        "Yea man, we good thanks to you," the older of the two said as they got up. "Why did you help us? I mean you look like a demon and shit, figured you would be on their side."

        "First off, I'm a devil. I'm technically supposed to be a demon's subordinate, but I got to come up here to make deals instead." I stated as I began to fish out the bullet still lodged in my skull. "Second off, I really don't like dirty pigs like those two. Makes for really bad bacon."

        The older boy chuckled at my shitty joke. He must have just as shitty of a sense of humor. "Well thanks a lot, man. We owe you big time. The name is Shawn by the way. This is my little bro Calvin."

        It hurt like a bitch when I finally pulled the bullet out. Then came the process of digging out every other bullet those shitheads fired into me. I was gonna need a good shower when I got back home for sure now.

        "Brother huh? Thought he was your boyfriend or some shit with that painting there." I said, pointing towards the graffiti I assumed they had been working on. "I mean, he still could be, but I ain't judging."

        "That's sick, dude. Why would you think some nasty shit like that?"

        I looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Does the red skin really not give away where I'm from? I've seen sicker shit than incest."

        "Still ain't cool though, man."

        "Whatever dude, all that matters is I saved y'alls asses." I retorted.

        "What's your name?" It was Calvin speaking now. He couldn't have been much older than sixteen.

        "It's Lukos, why does it matter?"

        "Lukos huh? Sounds Greek in all honesty."

        "The fuck does it matter what it sounds like?" I was a bit annoyed at the moment cause the final bullet was being a bitch to pull out, they just happened to receive my agitation.

        Sean whipped out a piece a paper and pen from his pocket to scribble something down before coming up to me. "It don't, but I did need a name to give Whimsy so I can pay you back. Just come to this address if you ever need some help, you dig?"

        "Yea, but I doubt you will ever be of any help to me." I replied as I put the paper in my pocket. “And what kind of preschooler is Whimsy? Don’t sound like they could help me with a name like that.”

        Sean scoffed as he shot me a dirty look. "You don't need to be an ass about it."

        "Yea, well I'm in a good bit of pain still. Bullets may not kill me, but it still sucks ass. Not even in the good way. In fact, I don't want to even look at these things anymore so you take them."

        I took Sean's hand and dropped the bloody bullets in them. The look of disgust on his face was absolutely priceless. Humans were always so easy to fuck with.

        "Sick dude!" He dropped the bullets quick, wiping his hands off on his jeans.

        "I know, now get on out of here already." I told them as kneeled down by Steve's corpse. "I've got one more thing to take care of."

        "Yea man, just know we will pay you back one day. Come on Calvin, lets bounce."

        The two of them were quick to gather up their supplies before dipping out of the alley. With them gone I looked up at what they had painted just to see what had brought down the cops' animosity besides skin tone. It was a pair of rainbow skulls kissing with a banner underneath it that read "Love is love" in some kind of fancy styling. It wasn't a bad piece if I was to be honest.

        Getting back to matters at hand though I took Steve's hand and began to carve "DL" into his palm with my nail. My connections in the police department would recognize that as a handle they had given me. Devil Lukos was what they referred to me as as if it were a gang title. Those two letters made sure they knew to sweep any crazy murders under the table. Normally I didn't bother with this cause if anything lead to me in the first place they would make sure the case went cold, but since those boys had been here I didn't want to risk my kills falling on their heads.

        With a heavy sigh I ran my hand through my blood coated hair. I was so done with today. All I wanted now was to get home and shower. I didn't even feel like walking anymore. So i made sure to abuse my teleporting ability once more.

        When I reformed in my living room I was greeted by a pair of hissing, balls of fur. These damn cats were never going to get used to me popping in and out like that. All I could do was roll my eyes as I walked past them.

        "Chill out you furry brats, it's just me." Some low growls came as a response and I sighed. "I'll feed you after I shower. Don't need racist blood in your food and shit."

        A shower was my top priority right now and after the hot water started to rain down on me I could feel myself starting to unwind. All the troubles of the day disappeared with the blood down the drain. Showers were some serious therapeutic shit and a good one could almost solve any issues plaguing someone's head.

        After getting out I didn't care to get dressed cause after I fed the cats the bed was going to become my best friend again real quick. At least that had been the plan until someone starting knocking on the door. Why did a lot of my plans always get shit on?

        I pulled the door open and found a nervous looking dude in front of me. He looked familiar with his rainbow mohawk, but my memory was a bit fuzzy. Getting beat around and shot in the head could do that to a devil.

        "Can I help you?" The guy seemed really flustered and I caught his eyes going below my waist here a there. "Eyes up here, rainbow boy."

        "S-Sorry," he stammered, "but I was told to come here earlier from a guy at the pride parade..."

        That triggered my memory. "Oh yea, Danny right? You got some real soft lips by the way."

        Danny seemed a bit perplexed now. "Are you the same guy as earlier..? Are you into extreme role-playing or something..?"

        "Role-playing?" It took a moment for it to dawn on me that I had been in disguise when I kissed him and I could only sigh as I shook my head. "Shit man, what you saw earlier was me role-playing. I'm a devil, dude. Straight out of Hell and shit."

        "Hell is real?!" Here comes the panic, it always happened. "Since I kissed a devil does that mean I'm going to Hell? Does being gay mean I'm actually going to Hell? Were those guys right after-"

        "No, you're not going to Hell." I interrupted, bringing him somewhat back to his senses. "None of that shit gonna cast you down into the pit. Had you sold your soul to me then there would be a different answer, but look man I understand if you ain't feeling down to smash now. So go on and dip, alright?"

        I went to shut the door and he quickly stuck his hand in. "No wait!"

        I stopped and looked at him with a raised brow. "What?"

        "Life is too short to not have fun, right?" He still seemed a bit flustered, but there was some confidence now. "Besides, I doubt any of my friends will be able to say they had a one night stand with a devil. So, can I come in?"

        I laughed and stepped to the side to usher him in. As he walked past I made sure to grab his ass firmly. "I'm gonna make sure to give you one hell of a night then, Danny. Get that sexy ass moving to the bedroom."

        He was laughing and enjoying it as I stripped him on our way to my bed. Hot kisses and teasing bites made everything slow until we crashed in my room. That was when the night really began to heat up. I could only imagine my neighbors were gonna be pissed in the morning. Not like it mattered though, this was the kind of relief I truly needed.

        Sometimes a shitty day could end on a really good note. It made all the bullshit worthwhile. Even a devil could use a happy ending every now and again.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you feel up to it, please leave feedback. It helps me further develop my writing ability.


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